Underdog No More
by Milley02
Summary: Ninja of Destiny?Not if she can help it.'Emiko' is an anime fan from our world who's suddenly in the 'fictional' Konoha - after a year of ninja training and searching, she begins to come to terms with the fact she may never go home. Then the story begins.
1. Finally a Genin! Konoha Kids?

**A/N: Yay for rewrites~! I FINALLY got around to doing this... I hope it looks better then the original chapter, plus it's twice as long now too... I'm also working on changing the summary, so can just ignore that if you want...  
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**Also, quick note! I recently joined an AWESOME new social networking site called Naruto Villages! Check out a blog about it by one of the creators here, just replace the 'dot'; http:/www(dot)likenaruto(dot)com/why-naruto-villages-is-better-than-facebook/**

**By the way, over there my name is 'Emiko32' - friend meeeeeeeeeeeeee!  
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**Disclaimer: I DON'T own anything to do with the anime/manga Naruto! I only own Emiko and Natski-sensei, everything else belongs to Masashi Kishimoto!**

**Extended Summary; ****A Ninja of Destiny? Not if she can help it. 'Emiko' is an anime fan from our world who's forced to survive in a foreign environment - the hidden village of Konoha in a world she thought was fiction. After an entire year, lots of ninja training, searching and theories, she's beginning to come to terms with the fact she may never get back home, when familiar events begin to occur.**.. AU!ContainsGirlOC

* * *

_Chapter 1 - Finally A Genin! Konoha Kids?_

* * *

A girl stood atop the Hokage Monument, the Hidden Shinobi Village of Leaves in the Fire Country spread out before her. The place that had become her home, only one year ago.

She could still remember, clear as day, when the man with wind-blown grey hair that she had thought was only fiction had found her, not far from the village.

She smiled as she remembered how she met the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Haruzen, and how he had then accepted her and her sudden appearance - without question.

At that thought, she frowned - she still thought it was strange. How the Third had trusted her, and taken her in. Given her a place to live, and eventually even let her begin training to be a ninja.

Then slowly, her brown eyes widened in fear. She quickly checked the metal band on her left wrist that was hidden underneath metal-plated black finger-less gloves.

"_Shit!_", the girl cursed,"I'm late!", and she ran off down the path back into the village.

She dashed past shops and villagers, only barely missing a ninja carrying a full stack of papers and accidentally causing the ninja's friend - who was also carrying a stack load of paper - to scatter his pile all over the place as she swerved to avoid him and ended up having to use her hands to flip out of the way.

And to help her gain momentum to get away from the angry ninja.

Checking her watch again, she quickly realized the only way she'd make it in time is if she did _THAT_.

So, yelling a quick,"sorry!", over her shoulder, she jumped onto the awning of nearby shop and used the material to springboard herself onto the roof of the closest, highest building, where she landed on both feet - and her hands.

Dusting off her gloved palms, she looked around as she tried to remember where she last saw it - before spotting the heavy cable attached to the corner of the building's roof.

Grinning, the girl went to the opposite side of the roof, then she sprinted as fast as she could, running straight at the corner edge - and thenjumped into the air.

Realizing how high she actually was at the last second, fear instantly filled her and she almost missed the cable as she came back down.

Now hanging from the cable by both hands, Emiko sighed.

"_Damn it!_ I almost had it that time!", she hissed to herself.

Then the sound of a familiar voice came from below and she looked down to see a young woman of average height wearing the green jacket attributed to higher ranked jounin ninja and blue baggy pants with her Hidden Leaf forehead protector tied to her right arm with red cloth, her short dirty blonde hair framing her face which sported a very unattractive scowl.

"Ya know, scowling just makes you look ugly", the girl hanging from the cable said with a flat look, unthinkingly saying her thoughts aloud.

The jounin's scowl deepened, having begun looking more furious with each word her young charge had said.

This was the point that Emiko remembered she was several stories in the air.

And she freaked out.

"_HOLY SHIT!_", she screamed, her legs flailing around for a few seconds before she managed to swing her way back up and clutch the cable in a death grip with both her legs and arms as she whimpered pathetically... inadvertently attracting the attention of quite a few villagers walking around below.

The jounin sighed, a sweatdrop rolling down the back of her head and her scowl changing to a tired look - this was not the first time she'd seen the girl show her fear of heights.

How could a ninja be afraid of heights, you ask? It sounds crazy, I know.

But for some reason... her fear always seemed to just make her want to attempt crazy things _more_.

... why the Third decided to let her start training to be a ninja, the jounin would never know.

Another yelp came from above her and the woman sighed heavily.

How _she_ ended up stuck teaching her - she'll also never know.

The jounin leapt onto the cable beside the girl, lazily letting the cable bounce around - and making the kid scream again.

"Natski-sensei!", she whined, then screeched,"_WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?_"

The girl's teacher, Natski, stuck her pinky in her ear closest to her student.

"I COULD HAVE _FALLEN_ AND _DIED_!", the girl yelled dramatically, flailing her arms about as an emphasis her point as the woman tried to return the hearing to her ringing ear - also deciding to ignore the urge to remind the girl that she was _ninja_ and therefore heights like this should be fine.

Instead, Natski looked non-nonchalantly down at the girl, watching her as she hung now only by her legs, panicking as she tried to grab a hold of the cable again.

"NATSKI-SENSEI!", she shrieked.

"WHY THE HELL WERE YOU LATE, EMIKO?", Natski finally spoke.

The sudden volume surprised her so much, Emiko lost her grip on the cable and started falling, a wordless scream coming from her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.

In a puff of white smoke, a clone of Natski appeared on the ground below her and caught her before she hit the ground.

Natski herself leapt down, scowling again with her arms crossed, and nodded to her clone - who disappeared in more white smoke, letting Emiko drop to the ground, coughing.

"Ow...", she mumbled, rubbing her butt as she sat up, then smiled sheepishly up at her sensei.

Who then started to yell at her in a public place about late=bad... stuff... or something.

Emiko wasn't really listening.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?"

Whoops...

"Now would you listen? I'm trying to tell you something important!", Natski-sensei growled.

"Gomenasai, Natski-sensei", she apologized, standing at attention.

"Now, the Hokage and I have decided that because of your surprising progress and level of training that you've achieved...", Natski-sensei started, then made a face as if even she couldn't believe what she was about to say.

"... that today I will be administering a test for you to become a genin".

Emiko's eyes widened,"really? So I'll get a forehead protector and everything?"... in a really childish way.

Natski sighed heavily, _again_, still wondering how the _hell_ this spastic kid had actually gotten this far in the first place...

"I haven't given you the damn test yet, moron!", the woman snapped, cuffing the girl over the head.

"_Ow!_"

Natski sighed,"now... I'll meet you at the training grounds".

"Why? Why can't you come with me? Where are you go-?_ Ow!_ Jeez, I'm sorry already! Just STOP hitting me! _Sensei-!_ **_OW!_**"

* * *

Emiko sighed, lounging against a random tree at the edge of the training ground's clearing.

After a while, she pulled a kunai out of her weapons pouch and stared at the sharp edge.

_~Flashback~_

_"... you know, I'd be able figure it out easier if I saw a demonstration", I began and Asuma smirked before easily shunting chakra into the blade of the kunai he was holding._

_Oh, **wow**. THAT is **cool!**_

_My eyes wide in awe, then my expression quickly became calculating as I began analysing the move, thoroughly noting the chakra's shape and form before closing my eyes again in concentration._

_Calm, reach your calm. Focus,** focus**. Slowly breathe in, and out... and vizualize!_

_When I opened my eyes again, I could barely see a wavy blue glow stretching out from the edges of my kunai blade - but it was definitely there!_

_I grinned, quickly looking up at Asuma,"I did it!", I exclaimed - and then immediately lost my concentration._

_The chakra flow fluctuated violently before disappearing completely, causing me to jump back and drop the kunai, clutching a now bleeding hand._

_"Owwwwwww! Bloody hell...", I hissed, removing the white scarf from around my neck and wrapping the shallow wound on my right hand._

_Ugh! OW! Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!_

_Then I realized I could hear a snorting noise and, scowling, I looked up to see Asuma trying to supress his laughter._

_Son of a-!_

_My scowl deepened as I loudly protested how NOT funny it was, stamping my foot and probably making myself look quite childish - all of which only made him start laughing harder._

_Bastard._  
_~End Flashback~_

Emiko pushed a little chakra into the kunai, feeling satisfied when a thin light blue aura framed the weapon's blade.

A twig suddenly snapping from behind her made the girl loose her concentration, the sharp chakra making a few light scratches on her hand.

She ignored it as she jumped to her feet, eyes quickly scanning the area where the sound came from, muscles tense.

As she took a step away from the tree, Emiko heard a sharp whistling of something flying through the air, and just managed to jump out of the way in time as several kunai lodged into the ground where she'd just been standing.

A foot touched the ground behind her, nurseling the grass in warning, and she spun around on the back of her heel, throwing up a kick in defense of the attacker.

It was Natski-sensei, her arm caught against Emiko's leg and the point of her kunai knife inches away from the girl's neck.

"Sensei?", she asked, a confused look coming on to her face.

Natski leapt back, twirling the kunai with her fingers,"to pass, you have get this", she pointed to a red piece of cloth tied to the twirling kunai.

And at the end of the kunai, was a single bell.

'Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me - a bell test? Really?', she thought.

The jounin grinned as if she had just beaten Kakashi at one of the carnival games she challenged him to at the New Years Festival - apparently every year.

'... why do I have the most unoriginal sensei?', Emiko thought, deadpanning.

A kunai suddenly thudded into the tree trunk behind her, at head height.

Emiko's eyes widened,"are you freaking crazy? This is just a test and _YOU ALMOST KILLED ME!_"

'Of course, I know she's crazy and all, but she wouldn't _actually_ kill me... right?'

"If you keep thinking this is _'just a test'_ Emiko, then you're gonna die!", Natski replied, a creepy grin sliding onto her face.

Rightfully freaked out, Emiko took off into the trees without a word in response, her sensei in close pursuit.

* * *

"Come _onnnn_, Emiko! You're not gonna pass if you keep running away!", Natski called, her voice echoing through the forest.

Emiko, meanwhile, was crouched, hiding in some bushes.

"_Emikooooooo_ - oh, come on! I've done worse than this!"

Emiko shivered as memories of her early training days surfaced.

'Right. _Focus_, girl. Come on, _think_', she thought, shaking her head.

'If I keep going this way... then I'll run into the Inuzuka compound soon - but that would be leaving the training grounds'.

_And automatic failure._

She mentally cursed.

Emiko peered through her cover, Natski was getting closer to her hiding spot...

Suddenly, a hail of kunai fell from somewhere above, and she only just managed to pull of a hasty substitution jutsu to get out of the way.

_She'd been watching a clone!_

Stumbling a little at the close call, Emiko turned started jumping through the trees again, back towards the training grounds with Natski right behind her.

Natski threw more kunai, some catching her clothes and making small cuts - that, while painful, were not much worse then what she got in normal training.

Hell, Emiko knew there was no way her sensei was going anywhere near full out, but she definitely wasn't going completely easy on her either.

The girl landed in the clearing in swirl of wind blown leaves, eyes quickly scanning the area for traps.

Halfway across, she froze.

'No... that's not _possible!_'

A figure stood at the edge the clearing on the far side, swathed in a black cloak patterned with white-lined red clouds with a orange swirling mask covering their face.

And a pale-skinned 12-year-old Naruto hanging limply in his arms, blood splattered over his orange jumpsuit and face.

Her hands shaking, the kunai she was holding dropped from her hand and thudded to the ground beside her.

Her breathing started becoming erratic as she stepped forward in shock, almost stumbling.

_'Wait a minute'_

She stopped moving.

'Natski can do _genjutsu_'

She waited for her hands to fall still.

'That's _right_. This is _just_ a _genjustu_'

Her breathing returned to normal.

She took the process of calming down, step by step. She had to be calm to focus properly.

Quickly she formed a basic seal,"_kai!_", and the illusion wavered and quickly disappeared, leaving her alone in the clearing.

Emiko breathed a heavy sigh of relief,"freaking hell", she breathed, then whipped around to point into the trees.

"You almost gave me a freaking heart attack, sensei! There _has_ to be rules against that!"

"Not really", appearing beside her and swiping at her with a kunai.

Emiko dropped to the ground in a crouch to retrieve her own knife, before pulling off a quick substitution jutsu as the jounin made a stab for the girl's stomach.

She appeared several yards away as another hail of kunai came at her - however, this time the girl just disappeared in puff of white smoke.

"A clone?", Natski commented, smirking,"well, aren't you making progress!"

Emiko did not reappear, nor did she yell out an angry retort like she did last time they tried this, the action having ended the test in her failure.

The girl was quite sensitive about her lack of much progress over the year Natski had been training her.

Natski, however, was just amazed she'd even managed chakra control - considering her lack of prominent chakra coils, it was a wonder how she could manipulate chakra at all.

Deciding to take a different approach, the jounin stood in the center of the clearing as she checked her weapons pouch - she was using a lot more kunai then she'd originally planned on, and she couldn't use her senbon needles on her own student.

Emiko never was good as dodging those.

Suddenly, four clones jumped into the clearing, charging straight at her.

Natski watched them as they approached. If she observed them closely enough she could tell- oh, wait, they're all affecting the grass - maybe she tried channeling chakra through their feet? Because she certainly didn't know the shadow clone jutsu...

In moments, she was engaged in close-range combat with the Emiko clones.

Because she hadn't been practicing chakra techniques very long, while she was okay with some ninjutsu, Emiko was more proficient at taijutsu then any other technique - in fact, it was one of her specialties.

And because Emiko used a style that was unheard of, her moves were usually hard to dodge - at the moment, however, she was using regular taijutsu.

Then suddenly, one of the clones switched to Leaf Whirlwind style, exclusively throwing kicks, and, deciding it was the real Emiko, Natski turned her attention to that clone and started laying on the heavy blows.

Within seconds, the clone disappeared in a puff of white smoke, followed by the other two barely a second behind, one of them dropping a smoke bomb.

Sight obscured, Natski was set upon by two more clones from above.

Both of them dodging down below the jounin's counterattacks and performing a Leaf Gale taijutsu technique - a leg sweeping technique - just before Natski hit them and jumped backwards out of the smoke cloud.

After a while the smoke dissipated, leaving one Emiko still sitting on the ground, grinning, while holding a bruised cheek with one hand - but in the other, she held a red stripe of cloth with a single bell attached to it.

Natski sighed before a smile curled her lips,"you pass".

* * *

Later that afternoon,"ow, ow, ow, ow, _ow_!", Emiko moaned, rubbing the back of her head as she walked down the Konoha street.

Her legs, arms and _head_ hurt like hell and her stomach was grumbling really loud because Natski had made her train through her lunch break as punishment for being late.

'But, hey! Now I'm finally a ninja!', she thought excitedly, a dreamy grin sneaking onto her face as she day-dreamed about ways she could wear her forehead protector.

Then her stomach growled again and she clutched it, looking down woefully,"that's the _last_ time I skip breakfast as a bet... stupid Natsuki-sensei, she probably planned it", she grumbled, walking past a suspiciously horizontal-looking part of a vertical wooden fence.

"_BONZAI!_", yelled a voice suddenly and Emiko looked back lazily as a shadow descended from above.

"Uh...", she grunted, taking a single step to the right, causing her 'attacker' to crash rather painfully into the ground.

Emiko cocked her head to the side as she crouched down next to the apparently unconscious kid.

She poked him a couple of times and he rolled over to reveal the Third's grandson, Konohamaru.

"Hey... it's the brat! What cha doin'?", she asked with feigned interest, and the boy instantly jumped to his feet, an indignant look on his face.

"Don't call me brat! Fatass!", he yelled in retort, pointing angrily, then covered his mouth with both hands, a scared look on his face as an evil-looking Emiko towered menacingly over him, eye twitching dangerously.

"What the hell do you just say?", she asked, in a creepy way that just scared the shit out of the kid.

Konohamaru gulped,'she has definitely been spending too much time with Natski', he thought.

"Uh... that you-", he started warily.

"WRONG ANSWER", she growled and a surprisingly girlish scream filled the air, making nearby villagers a few streets away look towards the sound with bewildered looks.

* * *

"Ow, ow, ow, ow! You didn't have to hit me so hard, Miko-nee!", Konohamaru whined, rubbing the bump on his head as he followed the girl through the crowded streets.

"Yes, I did - but _you_ didn't have scream like a girl", Emiko replied breezily,"besides, you should be thankful it was on your head".

The brat stopped, wincing - the implication was not lost on him.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some ramen to devour!", Emiko declared with determination, then sighed blissfully before waved at the boy dismissively as she continued on walking away from him.

"_Hey, wait!_", he called, jumping infront of her,"the old man said-", the brat started.

"What did I tell ya about calling Hokage-sama that, you little brat?", she scolded, punching him in the head again.

"Whatever...", he mumbled, scowling as he rubbed the new bump, then smirked,"your precious _Hokage-sama_ said you've gotta surpervise our training today!", he declared.

"Wha...?", Emiko said, confused,"he... did?"

"Yep!", he said, clearly excited.

'But I only just got promoted to Genin...'

"... what happened to Ebisu?", Emiko asked warily,"or even Iruka?"

"Ebisu's probably off doing perverted stuff and Iruka's busy with the Academy graduation exam that's coming up", the brat explained,"now, come on! Moegi and Udon are waiting!"

Emiko stopped walking and crossed her arms, a flat look on her face.

"Come _on_", Konohamaru moaned and started dragging her towards the Training Field, the girl only resisting half-heartedly.

* * *

Emiko scowled down at the two kids standing in front of her - Udon and Konohamaru - tapping her foot impatiently as the two fidgeted nervously under her gaze.

It had been an hour.

And she _still_ hadn't gotten her damn ramen.

"I don't see why Moegi had to go all the way to Ichiraku's to get your stupid ramen!", Konohamaru complained.

Udon sniffed.

Emiko's eye twitched.

"Couldn't you have got it on the way here?", he just kept talking.

Emiko's eye twitched again.

Twice.

"I just don't see what's so impor-"

"_Shut up_", she growled and the kid immediately stopped talking,"for your information - it just so happens that this training field is in the _opposite direction_ of Ichiraku Ramen, okay? And I _love_ Teuchi's ramen!"

A stunned silence followed, one that was only broken by the approach of running sandals.

A grinning Moegi ran up to the older girl, huffing, with steam leaving a trail behind her,"here's your super special deluxe ramen, Miko-nee!", she exclaimed, taking off the cabinet hotbox she'd been carrying as a backpack, with 'Ichiraku Ramen Hut' inscribed in kanji on the side and held out the large serving of still-steaming ramen to her.

Emiko's expression instantly matched Moegi's grin as she accepted the ramen and within seconds had devoured it, noisily slurping up the extra juice and then licking her lips before letting out a satisfied sigh of content.

Taking the empty bowl back, Moegi quickly told her that Teuchi expected the hotbox returned when she came by next, before jumping to attention beside her friends - who were still a little shocked at how quickly and noisily Emiko had eaten the ramen.

Because girls are _not_ supposed to slurp their food.

All except Moegi, the girl had gotten pretty used to it ever since Emiko had started living with them a year ago.

"Alright", Emiko began, stretching her arms out in front of herself and cracking her fingers,"so... how are you guys progressing with your taijutsu?"

* * *

An hour and several bruises later, the three kids collapsed, exhausted and hungry, from Emiko's training.

"Still happy you asked for me to help?", she asked, grinning evilly as she took a small drinking flask from a secondary pouch strapped to her waist next to her weapons pouch and started drinking the water.

"I don't remember this being so _exhausting_...", Moegi moaned, laying stretched out on a giant boulder that sat on the edge of training grounds.

"_Sooooo tiredddd..._", mumbled Udon, sitting on the grass and leaning against the boulder.

Hearing this, Konohamaru scowled, and dragged himself from his starfish-stretch position on the ground into a sitting position, before complaining loudly,"what the hell is _wrong_ with you? You call that taijutsu _training_?", he yelled,"you just attacked us for a freaking hour, you phsyco!".

"_Konohamaru!_", Moegi whispered, scared.

"She's gonna kill you, Konohamaru!", added Udon, fearfully.

They all knew how short Emiko's temper could be from the last time he'd pissed her off - let's just say, Konohamaru will never look at mushrooms the same way again.

You see, when Emiko gets _really_ mad, she doesn't yell. She doesn't even swear. Nope, not a bit.

She just gets you back in the way you least expect, in a way that you don't even notice so that you end up doing it to _yourself_.

... unless you're ranked jounin... or really smart.

But this wasn't one of those times.

"Konohamaru", she said, and the kid looked up at her with a surprised look on his face - she always called him brat.

"Do you really think your enemy is going to _baby_ you?", Emiko asked, a serious look on her face,"you think they won't do everything and anything to _kill_ you in order to complete their mission?"

Konohamaru looked down, ashamed at his outburst.

"In the life of a ninja - most fights - it's live or die. Your enemy is not going to wait for you to attack, or spot them. They'll ambush you, trap you or even charge straight at you if they're stupid or strong enough", she continued, now talking to all three of them.

The training ground was quiet as the three younger children stared her with crestfallen expressions.

Emiko sighed,"look, I'm not trying to discourage you or anything - I just don't wanna to lie to you", she sighed again,"what I'm trying to say is... a ninja's life is hard work. I'm honestly surprised Ebisu hasn't trained you like this before now..."

She got a thoughtful look on her face,"... at the very least it'll help you guys build endurance and conserve your energy longer for next time".

"Next time?", Moegi asked, looking a hopeful.

"Yep", Emiko replied, a smile appearing,"I'm offering my help in training you guys more often... though I _might_ have to discuss it with Natski-sensei to see if it's okay... and I'll probably only be able to help you guys with taijutsu...".

"Emiko-sensei!", Moegi cried, jumping from the boulder and bowing in front of the older girl,"please train us!".

"Uh... yeah!, Udon added, joining his friend.

"Come on, Konohamaru!", Moegi hissed and instantly the boy jumped to his feet, to stand next to his friends, bowing too.

"_Please teach us, Emiko-sensei!_", they said together, surprising Emiko.

The girl looked down at the three pre-teens in shock, they were asking her to be their_ teacher_?

"... what about Ebisu?", she asked warily, eyes narrowed,"I mean, he'll probably complain that I'm interfering with his job, or something".

"Easy!", Konohamaru said, grinning and giving her the thumbs-up,"I'll just talk to the old man!"

Emiko's expression instantly became murderous as she slapped him upside the head.

"Damn it, what the did I say you about calling him that?", she yelled and Moegi and Udon laughed as Konohamaru crouched, clutching at his head, which was now developing a third bump.

After a minute, Emiko lost her scowl and started laughing along with them.

_'Might as well enjoy this while I can'_

* * *

_Chapter End_

* * *

**A/N: Sorry if I used a couple of japanese words, sometimes I do that by accident. They should be pretty simple ones though. Oh, and I changed the summary.  
**

**Please remember to story alert, fav and/or review!**

**C ya,**  
**Milley02**


	2. Of Ghosts, Fears & Snake Obsessions

**A/N: Major rewrites for this fanfic are still in progress - it's looking good though. Oh, and this chapter is pretty short compared to what I usely write, so expect future chapters to be at least twice as long.**

**WARNING: This chapter contains some light swearing - not as much as one of my other stories though. I'm trying to keep the theme to this story 'innocent' for a little while longer like they do in the anime with the initial 'happy episode' and then get to angst and death-related issues later. (You can expect that in the next chapter when I get around to writing it.)**

* * *

_Chapter 2 - Of Ghosts, Fears, and Snake Obssessions_

* * *

"... really, Iruka? _Ghosts?_ That's where we're going with this now?"

Iruka glared. Emiko rolled her eyes.

It was just over a month later and Emiko was currently in the Hokage's office with her sensei standing beside her looking bored.

Natski sighed... and for good reason. Instead of 5 minutes, they'd been in there for about half an_ hour._..

So what if the mission was to investigate some 'ghost' sightings in some abandoned temple in the forest east of the Village?

It paid.

You see, recently Emiko has been becoming resistant when it came to accepting D-Rank missions, but she always started to sweat a little when someone mentioned a C-Rank...

Then again, the girl had had some serious anxiety issues for as long as Natski had known her - hell, the first time she met her young charge she had been forcibly hospitalized and was under guard.

Something about a mental break down...

"_Emiko!_ Would you just take the damn mission already?"

Wow, she's got Iruka to start cursing already - that has to be a record!

"Calm down, Iruka" Natski began, waving a hand dismissively "the mission's fine. We'll take it - the kid needs the experience anyway"

"Hey! I resent that!" Emiko snapped.

"But you don't deny it" Natski retorted, her expression becoming smug.

Emiko did not respond; scowling, instead, and mumbling under her breath.

Iruka sighed, glad he could finally be rid of Emiko - honestly, the girl really knew how to get on his nerves.

The Third however, who up until that point had been ignoring the jovial tension, just smiled good naturedly and said "then I will see you two tomorrow with your report, Natski, Emiko-chan"

"_Hai_, Hokage-sama!" the genin replied, smiling in return and standing at attention - the respect she by all appearances lacked when talking so brashly to the academy teacher, was clearly present when she spoke to the Third Hokage.

"Come on, sensei!" Emiko began, suddenly excited "looks like we get to spend the night in a haunted temple!" then rushed out the doors so quickly she completely missed the violent shiver that went up her sensei's spine.

"Have fun, Natski" commented one of the other chuunins as he threw her the mission scroll.

"Fuck you, Gon"

* * *

Later that day, after the mission delegating had ended and they were the only two in the room, Iruka let out a large sigh.

"... are you sure about this, Hokage-sama?" the chuunin asked as the older man moved to stand over by the window "she's twelve, yes - but up until a year ago she was only a civilian..."

"I seem to remember a time when ninja graduated from the academy several years younger than her" Sarutobi replied airily.

"That's a different thing entirely..." Iruka quickly interuptted "there were extenuating circumstances - and besides that, she hasn't even trained at the Academy..."

The Hokage sighed, suddenly looking very tired "Iruka... she will be ready soon - I know it. Besides, I've already discussed it with Natski"

"And?"

"And we've decided not to send her this year. We're going to wait until next year - when it will be hosted here in Konoha. That way Ibiki can keep as much an eye on her as he wants"

Iruka shivered slightly "I still don't understand what that man sees in her..."

The Hokage smiled "she passed his course with flying colours - what's not to like?" then his expression turned amused "and from what I understand, he also finds it amusing that she was the one to request it in the first place..."

"She is an odd one, that girl" Iruka agreed as he walked over to stand beside him "and she's changed a lot since she came here"

Sarutobi's smile broadened "yes, she has come a long way from that frightened little girl, standing in my office with a broken lip, avoiding eye contact"

_A long way indeed..._

* * *

Meanwhile, while stowing their extra kit in one of the rooms of the abandoned temple, Emiko suddenly sneezed.

"Great" she muttered to herself "I really needed a random arterial explosion... wait, does that mean someone's talking about me? God, I hope not... I have enough issues with paranoia as it is..."

_'Granted, they're fully justified. Not that I can tell anyone that...'_

Glancing around a bit, she sat down next to their stuff - Natski was out looking around temple, she would have just enough time to change the bandages.

You see, Emiko grew up normal. In 'our world', she had a mostly comfortable life in the western world - which meant the skin on her hands was more... _fragile_ then most other Konoha residents.

Which meant her skin cut, bruised and split easily - the fact that she barely noticed nor remembered how she got her own injuries before that didn't help.

Carefully, she peeled off her left glove to see the most recent cuts had started bleeding through the bandages already and went about removing them.

A few thin red lines ran over the palm of her hand, bleeding slightly, the rest of her hand was covered in other scars in varying stages of age - the more serious ones up to and just over a year old.

Before re-wrapping her hand, she decided examining her knuckles would be a good idea - the skin was cracking and bleeding again. Not as bad before, mind you, but serious enough she would have to go to the hospital soon to get some more skin cream and to get her knuckles checked out.

Meogi's mother, who was a retired field medic and now worked at the hospital as a nurse, had warned her about it before. She said that if she left it untreated properly for too long, she could end up damaging the nerves on her hands.

Which would, in turn, adversely effect her ability to move her hands and fingers - some thing she wanted to avoid as it was difficult enough for her to form hand signs as it was.

"_Emiko!_" her sensei shrieked and Emiko took off to investigate.

And so the mission began.

* * *

Several hours into the mission and so far no sightings.

Emiko, having quickly gotten so very _bored_ with her sensei's constant false alarms, had sat herself down on the veranda in the inner courtyard and was practicing forming hand signs at a painfully slow pace - meanwhile, her sensei was pacing back and forth behind her and had starting to twitch at every sound.

At the very least, it was better then the shrieking she was doing earlier...

It was around midnight when the odd noises started, but Emiko had been feeling odd ever since they'd arrived at the old temple - not that she'd tell her sensei that.

After all, the woman was apparently scared shitless of ghosts - who would've thought _that_? - but the other reason was because she'd only noticed it because of her chakra sensitivity.

The one she got from growing up without it.

In another world.

_'Yep, definitely keep THAT to myself'_

"_EMIKO!_" her sensei's voice screeched.

The aforementioned girl sighed heavily for the countless time that night, slumping her shoulders, before going to investigate.

Except she never made it that far.

Instead, she crashed through a few brittle pieces of old floorboards and landed in the cellar.

Groaning, she rolled over onto her back, her nose numb and probably dislocated from falling six metres, face first into the floor.

And just when she thought it was over, the floorboards beneath her began creaking ominously again, and suddenly, there was nothing below her.

And, with a wordless shriek, she fell _again._

* * *

Colliding with rock is painful.

Being completely winded - so badly that you loose _consciousness_ - is also very painful, once you wake up.

Squinting her eyes behind her glasses - after she'd retrieved them - as she sat in a spot of light, she took a look around.

Emiko could only see what was illuminated by the patch of moonlight coming from the hole above her, but from looks of things, she was in the catacombs that snaked around the area.

And, apparently, also beneath the old temple.

She shakily got to her feet, looking up so she could see the hole she'd made - it was too far to jump, even with chakra. She just wasn't that good with it yet.

_'Time to explore then.'_

* * *

After waiting for her eyes to adjust, she started traveling along the dark tunnel, eventually coming to a larger cavern, light streaming in from another breach in the ceiling.

At first, there wasn't much difference to tunnel, then she noticed the slightly raised platform in the center, and after approaching and lightly running her fingers over it - she realized it was made of wood.

It was a table.

There was a _table_ in the _catacombs._

With the sudden realization, she froze, eyes darting around the room, taking in the bookshelves, apothecaries and scattered equipment, books and scrolls.

_'No way. No freaking way.'_

Taking stumbled steps backwards, her eyes flying to the floor to see the tomoe-shaped symbol encircled by an ouroboros. A snake eating its own tail.

Only one man would have that.

_A snake._

This was Orochimaru's Konoha-era secret hideout.

* * *

It took her 10 minutes of running, and another 15 of hiding in the dark corridors, before she worked up the courage to go back and have a look around.

Tentatively, she entered the room, approaching one of the bookshelves on the far left. There were snake designs on a few of the scattered handwritten scrolls there - maybe Orochimaru's own notebooks? - but after opening a few, she realized they were too tattered and damaged to make out anything.

She felt stupid for even trying - of course they would destroy everything! Ninja are meticulous, after all.

Still, one could hope. Orochimaru was a genius seen only once in a generation, and being able to get a hold of the man's notes? That would be an amazing experience! So much _knowledge_ - and the _techniques!_

... just the thought of it all made her feel all giddy!

She giggled manically for a while before eventually calming down enough to continue looking around the room.

After 10 minutes of searching every nook and cranny, she'd found nothing usable.

Disappointed, she turned to leave, throwing one of the useless scrolls across the room in her frustration.

She froze. _'When that hit the-! It made a-!'_

Excited, she dashed across the room, putting her hands up against the wall and knocking lightly on it as she began moving along the edge of the room.

She stopped suddenly - _there it was again._

Knocking just one more time to be sure, she heard the hollow noise of a wall _that should be made of solid stone and earth._

Quickly, she pulled out a kunai from her weapons pouch and stabbed it between the cobble stones that lined the wall of that side of the room, and began levering it out.

Slowly but surely, the stone eventually gave way to reveal what looked like a hidden cache...

... of books and scrolls- _Orochimaru's books and scrolls?_

A maniacal grin slipped into her expression.

* * *

**End Chapter**

* * *

_~Omake~_

_Wide eyes darting around, Natski took a few steps backwards as another strange noise filled the courtyard._

_"Where the hell did that girl get to?" Natski hissed under her breath._

_"BOO!"_

_Natski shrieked so loudly that she scattered a nearby flock of birds._

_Then Kakashi started laughing._

_"KAKASHI HATAKE!"_

_~Omake End~_

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I really _should_ be doing a lot of other things - yet here I am. Establishing the timeline. In a story not many people apparently read... ah well, I like writing this.**

**... _okay_, so I recently got back into the Naruto anime - _don't look at me like that!_**

**Please remember to rate, author/story alert, fav and/or review!**

**C ya,**  
**Milley02**


	3. Underneath the Underneath

**A/N: Someone asked me why I didn't write this in first person like my other stories - well, that's because if I did, it would be either incredibly depressing or superficial. Plus, this way, I get to add side plots/conversations that Emiko won't know about.**

**Thanks to _0extraMandM0, _phantom130_5 and _XxBishxX_ for putting this story in your favorites! And _cleareyes24, HitsuGaya Aiko,_ and again _phantom130_5_ and_ XxBishixX_ for story alerts!**

**Remember; reviews, story alerts, and favourites motivate me to write chapters faster!**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T own anything to do with the anime/manga Naruto! I only own Emiko and Natski-sensei, everything else belongs to Masashi Kishimoto!**

**Extended Summary; ****A Ninja of Destiny? Not if she can help it. 'Emiko' is an anime fan from our world who's forced to survive in a foreign environment - the hidden village of Konoha in a world she thought was fiction. After an entire year, lots of ninja training, searching and theories, she's beginning to come to terms with the fact she may never get back home, when familiar events begin to occur.**.. AU!ContainsGirlOC

**WARNING: Angst and little swearing...  
**

**'~' from now on, that symbol indicates indicates flashbacks.  
**

* * *

_Chapter 3 - Underneath the Underneath_

* * *

_"Hey! What the hell are you brats doing to her?"_

_I was just running an errand to the Ninja Academy for my new sensei - something about a lesson in responsibility... I should really pay attention when she talks._

_Now, I was in the training area behind the Academy, glaring down at three ten-year-old boys surrounding a shy dark-haired girl about the same age. It was pretty obvious they were bullying her - I should know, the same thing happened to me when I was her age._

_In another world._

_Oooooh, it's nice being tall for a change._

_"None of your business, oba-chan!"_

_Wha-? That little-! Oh, he did** not!**_

_"**Right**" I growled, leveling my best death glare at them - height helps by the way "you three little shits better run right now - or it's your **parents** I'll be talking to next!"_

_Immediately, they ran off - like I'd just threatened them with a big ass sword or something._

_Slowly, I blinked. Wow. Mums must be pretty damn scary around here._

_And, yeah, I know what you're thinking; isn't this the part where Naruto's supposed to show up and be all hero and macho-like and she falls in love with him? Well, I'm afraid you're a little late for that memorable moment; I saw him do that yesterday - it was very endearing, and Hinata was probably hoping he would come to her rescue again. But, unfortunately for her, Naruto is on the other side of town, running from some chuunin at the moment because-_

_Waaaaait a second._

_"For your information, I'm **only** a year older than you, you little brats!" I shouted angrily after them._

_After I was sure they were gone, I turned to look at the girl, but "uh..." was all I could say - I was kind of embarrassed about loosing my temper like that._

_"Uh- um- tha- tha- thank you!" Hinata Hyuuga stuttered, looking at me curiously with her pupiless lavender eyes._

_I just grinned "no problem! The way those brats were acting has been bugging me for a while now - it's about time someone stood up to them!"_

_We stood there for bit, both probably feeling pretty awkward, as I struggled to think of something to say to break the ice - I'm really bad with this whole 'social interaction' thing, always have been.  
_

_Then it dawned on me "hey, do you like dango?"_

_Slowly, a shy smile slipped onto her face._

_And so began a beautiful friendship._

_'~'  
_

"_Hiiiii~naaaa~taaaa~!_" Emiko called from front gates of the Hyuuga Compound - she wasn't allowed inside anymore.

It was _baka-Neji_'s fault, if you really must know.

"He- hello, Emiko-chan!" she called as she ran up the path to meet her friend - wearing a light blue flowery kimono.

"Dude, why the hell are you wearing a dress?" Emiko asked, a confused look on her face "I thought we were supposed to be training and then going for dango later!"

Hinata blushed - god, she's so freaking adorable!

"I- I'm sorry! I- I'm not at- attending the A- Academy today either..." Hinata replied, looking apologetic "my apo- apointment is to- today..."

_'Oh. I forgot about that'_

You see, unlike in the anime/manga, here Hinata is not just randomly pale and physically weaker, but because of hereditary disease she has - something about her body not producing enough of some important chemical or something... bottom line, it makes her really sick.

So once a month, she has get this check up and an injection at the hospital. Poor girl is terrified of needles too; kunai are fine, just not needles. Haven't tried senbon yet.

Just like Emiko with tree-hopping and heights. And needles. And senbon. And-

_Any_way.

"That's okay, Hinata. I know it's important" Emiko replied, smiling "I've got some studying to do anyway..."

Hinata frowned. Emiko was _always_ studying - if she wasn't training, sleeping or on a mission. She was studying something or other.

She claimed it was because she wanted to be a better ninja - which was actually part of the reason - but it was also because she used it as an excuse to avoid talking to people. Social interaction - unless she absolutely _had_ to - was just not her forte.

Thankfully she didn't shut herself up in some corner of the Konoha Library anymore like she did in the early days of her ninja training - honestly, the girl had checked out every book and scroll in the Library at some point.

Right now, however, she was very eager to crack the cypher on the books and scrolls she'd found in Orochimaru's old hideout.

"See you later, Hinata!" she called over her shoulder as she ran off down the road, waving over her shoulder.

_Cue the Cheshire grin._

* * *

"Well _that_ worked really well..."

After leaving Hinata's place, Emiko was on her way to retrieve the scrolls and books she'd found in Orochimaru's old hideout from her ninja stash (yes, ninja stash), when Natski - who was _supposed_ to have already left on a mission that day - showed up and gave her a list of tasks to complete while she was gone.

A _long_ list of tasks.

"Stupid sensei" she grumbled to herself as she walked along the corridor of the Hokage building carrying a large stack of papers "stupid _paperwork_. Stupid_ ninjas_ - this was _supposed_ to be my _day off!_ I'm a _genin, damn it! Not a bloody gofer!"_

"_Emiko!_ Where are those reports for your D-Rank missions from last week that you promised me?"

"_**GAH!**_ Bloody hell! _Stupid bloody flicker jutsu_ - leave me alone, Iruka!" she snapped, her scowl hidden behind the stack of papers "can't you see I'm busy? I still have, like, twenty other things to do before Natski-sensei gets back this afternoon!"

"Then you _should_ have written and submitted those reports last week then, eh?" Iruka lectured.

Emiko sighed, rolling her eyes - he was right. _As usual._

She poked her head out beside the papers to look at him questioningly "wait, aren't you meant to be teaching or something?"

"What are you talking about, Emiko? Classes are already over for the day"

Her thoughts halted._ 'What?'_

Quickly, she tried to figure it out_ 'okay, so classes start at 9AM and end at 1PM, unless you have extra curricular activites or mock missions, which most do. Except Iruka doesn't do them on- Wait. What day is it-? Oohhh, shit'_

Slowly, Emiko's eyes widened in realization.

She'd been running around for four hours and had barely gotten half the list done.

And Natski was due back in two hours.

_'Crap.'_

Emiko smiled sweetly "hey, Iruka? You think you could do me favor?"

"..." Iruka stared down at her with a blank expression, then she pulled out the list - it was pretty long.

"Could you pretty please hold up Natski with admin stuff until I get all this stuff done?"

Iruka continued staring at her, then "... on _one_ condition"

Emiko looked up hopefully "yeah?"

"You have those reports handed in by tomorrow morning"

She deflated, scowling at the academy teacher "fine..." she relented grudgingly.

"Then it's a deal" he said, smiling.

_'Well played, Iruka, well played.'_

* * *

In the early hours of the next morning, having handed in her mission reports - something she swore _never_ to put off again - Emiko left the Hokage building, looking pale and bedragled with dark rings under her eyes.

_'Damn anime exaggerations...'_

Thanks to the the cliches of anime, she basically looked like a zombie for getting so little sleep the night before - while all around Konoha, it was a happy normal morning; with birds chirping, the sun shining and people just getting to work.

It was really started to piss her off.

Time to avoid everyone so they don't see her face and ask her what's wrong.

Answering questions delays sleep time.

And she was _really_ not in the mood to fake her way through social interaction today - the whole thing made her tired to begin with. Damn personality disorder.

Thankfully, Hinata had full classes scheduled for today, as well as a mock mission and then training with her father - which meant Emiko could avoid her for the entire day without feeling guilty!

Natski, on the other hand, had other ideas.

Explained by the woman suddenly appearing using that damn body flicker jutsu - a jutsu that Emiko constantly complained that her sensei abused with her laziness to walk places and apparant need to make her student run everywhere - and then dragged her out to their usual training field.

_Joy._

* * *

Today's training was more chakra control exercises.

_Yaaaaay-_ Wait. Actually, that is yay! Because being able to walk up walls _IS AWESOME_ - way better then the leaf thing!

Now more awake, Emiko started listening intently as Natski began explaining the plan for today "today you'll be learning Tree Climbing - you know what that is?"

Emiko nodded eagerly "the practice of molding chakra to the soles of your feet in order to climb a tree without using your hands, all while keeping the chakra flow constant and level"

She was excitedly bouncing on her heels - she'd been wanting to try this for a while, but had never been able to work up the courage to try it.

You know, her thing with heights and all.

"Yep, that exactly right" Natski replied, pleased that Emiko was learning something from her studies "I'll be watching from up there, don't let me keep you" and she then went on to demonstrate - translation; show off - by walking up to closest tree, strolling up about 15 or so meters before sitting on a branch to watch Emiko's progress.

"This should be interesting..." Natski muttered to herself as her student, curiously, began by first testing her chakra flow control with her hand against the tree.

"... very interesting, indeed" she grinned.

* * *

Emiko was having trouble.

Not unusual when it came to chakra-related stuff - but she'd been at this for an _hour_ now and she _still_ couldn't get the flow right. Granted, she'd been able to increase the amount of time she could hold her hand against the tree before the bark exploded. But it still exploded.

This was going to take some time... damn main characters making this look easy...

* * *

Natski called it quits for the day when the sun started setting. She'd spent all day sitting in a tree - sans their lunch break at Ichiraku's - while Emiko tried to level out her chakra flow.

The girl hadn't even made_ one_ run at the tree - she just stood there beside it with her hand pressed against the bark.

Normally, Natski would approve of her caution, considering it was only training - but she'd spent twice as long as Natski had estimated she would take before actually attempting to the 'climb' the tree.

Her full attention wasn't on the exercise.

Something was distracting her.

* * *

Emiko left the training grounds, saying goodbye to Natski before turning down the opposite road towards the civilian housing - yeah, she was still living with Moegi and her mother until she saved up enough money to get her own place.

"I'm back!" she called after closing the door behind her and changing from her ninja sandals into her house slippers.

"Hi, Miko-nee!" Moegi replied, running up to her in the front hall "why're you so late today?" she asked, frowning.

"Sensei's got me trying to climb trees with chakra" Emiko grumbling, slumping her shoulders as she followed the promising smell of dinner into the kitchen and slumped into one of the seats.

"But that's_ awesome!_" Meogi protested, eyes lighting up as she sat down at the table in the combined kitchen-dining room.

"No, I'm not teaching it to you"

Instantly, Moegi shoulder's slumped and she pouted. Emiko could read her like an open book sometimes...

"Emiko-chan!" Kana, Moegi's mother, admonished, as she brought in the food "why don't you try teaching her Leaf Concentration instead? It has many benefits-"

"But _Muuum!_" Moegi whined "I already know about that one! Iruka-sensei makes us do that at the Academy!"

"As he should!" Kana retorted. The woman was always encouraging Moegi to practice chakra control exercises, as she continued to hold on to the hope that her daughter would some day join the ranks of Konoha's highly-valued medic-nin.

Emiko sweatdropped; as odd as it sounds, those two acted more like siblings then mother and daughter sometimes...

... her fingers holding the chopsticks froze just above her plate.

Damn. And it was chicken curry and rice tonight, too. One of her favourites.

The loud scraping of a chair moving back across the floor drew the attention of the bickering females.

"Are you alright, Emiko-chan?" Kana asked, looking worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Emiko replied, a blank look on her face. She tried to force a smile, but her deeper emotions were beginning to get the better of her.

She was losing control. She needed to leave. _Now._

"I've just got some studying to do" she continued.

"Well alright" Kana relented "but take your dinner with you - wouldn't want you to go hungry, dear"

Nodding absentmindedly, the girl forced another smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and then left the room, plate and eating utensils in hand as she headed for her room on the second floor, Kana and Moegi's worried eyes following her.

* * *

Emiko managed to make it to her room and put her plate of food on the desk along with her glasses before the tears started falling.

She sat in the corner by the window, face buried in her knees that were drawn up to her chest as the familiar thoughts ran through her mind.

Thoughts she worked to keep at bay.

Emiko hid her real emotions and put on the happy, kid-like exterior so people wouldn't ask. So she could try and keep people at a distance. Because she knew if someone asked her what was wrong, she'd start crying.

And she _hated_ other people seeing her cry.

Because, just for a little, she wanted to forget why she was here. What had happened.

She didn't want to be _close_ to these people.

She didn't want to be a_ part_ of their Village.

She was only here, training to be a ninja, because she had no where else to go.

Because to_ live_, to _survive_, and to keep secret her knowledge of the world; she needed to _train_, to become _strong_.

_She needed power._

She'd justified it to herself, about one day potentially betraying the Village for it when the time came.

She told herself it would be to save them.

After all, the information she had was dangerous in the wrong hands - it could change the very face of the world. It could even destroy it.

_She held people's lives in her hands - and she had no right to._

She used to be a normal 18 year old girl; just finished high school, starting university... then suddenly she was a 11 year old child in another world - one she'd only read about.

She was weak, and she was alone -_ but she would fight to live._

Even if it meant she was called a selfish coward.

Even if it meant she was called a_ traitor_.

* * *

Slowly, Emiko woke to the moon illuminating the dark room. She was still squashed in the corner and the house was silent.

She moved her arms, trying to get the stiffness out of them, then settled for crossing them on top of her knees and leaning her head on them at she stared across her bedroom, thinking about the books and scroll she'd retrieved from Orochimaru's old hideout.

Across her room was a bookshelf, filled with reading material she'd either bought or was given by Natski, Asuma or the Third, all organized in alphabetical order with each shelf holding exclusively either scrolls or books.

She was a bit of a neat freak.

Her room wasn't very big, and the shelf was just close enough that she could read the titles without needing her glasses.

That was when it clicked.

She'd already used all of the basic numeric algorithms that she knew of; ranging from poly-alphabetic to poly-graphic...

But_ this-!_ It's _genius!_ It used a basic binary encryption with a numeric homo-phonic substitution cypher underneath!

_Underneath the underneath._

Excited at her discovery, Emiko quickly crawled across the room on her hands and knees toward the shelves, and immediately began testing the first set of numbers from one of encrypted books against every book and scroll on her shelf.

* * *

Several hours later, the sun was beginning to break, and Emiko had gone through all of her books and scrolls without success.

Exhausted, she slumped forward on to the hardwood floor, then she rolled over on to her back, and staring at the ceiling, she sighed.

After decoding the binary encryption, she had become absolutely sure it was a homo-phonic substitution cypher - she just couldn't seem to find the right book or scroll...

Closing her eyes, she decided that later she'd try her luck at the Konoha Library.

But now was time for sleep.

Then it hit her.

Her eyes snapped open as dragged herself over to the desk.

She felt so bloody_ thick_ in the head - _how the hell did she not think of it earlier?_

Emiko stood long enough to grab one of her weapons pouches from her desk and opened the extra compartment she'd sown in to reveal her most cherished book.

_'Tales of a Gutsy Ninja' by Jiraiya_ - who was also Orochimaru's teammate. _Man, _she did she feel thick...

She began checking the first few number sets - it worked!_ 'Oh my god, it worked!'_

Grinning, she went on and decrypted seven sets, writing the resulting letters into a notebook that was already filled with the last two weeks worth of failed attempts.

Then she stopped, pencil dropping from her fingers as confusion and shock hit her at the same time, the conflicting emotions making her expression look distorted.

_'That can't be it...'_

She ran the numbers again. But they were same.

Again. And again. But the two words were _always the same._

"You've got to be fucking kidding me..." she breathed, staring down at her notebook, the decrypted words written in her messy scrawl;

_Bad Wolf_

These weren't Orochimaru's notes.

* * *

_Chapter End_

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! And by the way, yes those are real cyphers that I know about. I didn't just research them for the sake of the story - though I did check them to make sure they were right.**

**Please remember to rate, author/story alert, fav and/or review!**

**See ya,**  
**Milley02**


	4. The White Butterfly, Part 1

**A/N: Yeah... it got pretty angsty in the last chapter... I wasn't really planning on it, but that's where it went - except the cyphers. 'Cause I love cyphers~! And this chapter is also the first of two (or maybe three, not sure yet) parts.**

**Anyway~ this story recently got listed in a Community called 'World crossover'! Yay~! It's the first time it's happened to any of my stories, so I'm kinda excited about it... thanks to _Natal_ for adding it!**

**On that note, thanks to _Vladlette_ for the story alert and _phantom130_5_ for all the reviews!**

**EDIT: This story just got added to _another_ Community! It's called 'Creativity Knows No Bounds: A Naruto OC Community' - thanks for adding it _nagashi. no .kuro_ !**

**Remember; reviews, story alerts, and favourites motivate me to write chapters faster!**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T own anything to do with the anime/manga Naruto! I only own Emiko and Natski-sensei, everything else belongs to Masashi Kishimoto!**

**Extended Summary; A Ninja of Destiny? Not if she can help it. 'Emiko' is an anime fan from our world who's forced to survive in a foreign environment - the hidden village of Konoha in a world she thought was fiction. After an entire year, lots of ninja training, searching and theories, she's beginning to come to terms with the fact she may never get back home, when familiar events begin to occur... AU!ContainsGirlOC**

**'~' that symbol indicates flashbacks.**

* * *

_Chapter 4 - The White Butterfly, Part 1_

* * *

"What about the summer pink? With the sakura flowers?"

Emiko almost gagged "for frick's sake! For the third time, _no!_"

"But we've been through the_ entire_ colour spectrum-!" the touchy female tailor retorted.

"Yeah, and you already said pink _twice_!" Emiko snapped

"Fuschia and peach are _not_ pink!" the young woman seethed, teeth gritted as she held up the summer pink fabric to Emiko's outstretched arm.

Basically, Neji had decided that if Emiko was going to be hanging around his cousin at the New Years Festival, she should at least wear something suitable.

Hence the reason why Emiko, Hinata and Neji were in the back room of a local tailor, trying to choose fabrics for a kimono that would be _handmade_.

Which is apparently expensive.

And the reason Emiko now owed Neji money. Well, technically Hinata's dad gave him the money, but still...

"Would you just pick a colour already? I have better things than _this_!" Neji shot from his position over by the corner by the door that led to the front of the store, his arms crossed and expression annoyed.

_'So~rry~ Mr.I-just-graduated-ninja-school-last-month-and-I'm-so-important-Hyuuga!_ _I technically graduated before you, damn it!'_

Emiko slowly breathed in and out_ 'just remember, you're doing this for Hinata - not that self-absorbed prick sitting in the corner'_

Too bad Emiko was just as clueless about fashion and tradition as she was social interaction. It' something else to study though...

"... uh, what do you think, Hinata?" Emiko asked, pleading the girl standing beside her with her eyes to get her out of this.

"Um... I- I think... th- the red... wi- with the na- nadeshiko flowers might be nice..." she trailed off, blushing as everyone looked at her.

The tailor quickly retrieved the described cloth, holding it up and looking back and forth between them.

"I agree" she said, then slowly she went on, talking to herself now "red with the nadeshiko flowers... and maybe a bronze or dark yellow for the obi? Yes... and the under garments too..."

"Am I done here?" Emiko interrupted her.

"Yes, yes, I have your measurements, you can go" the woman replied, waving one hand dismissively as she searched through a pile of cloth "just remember to come back for the fitting in a few weeks!"

"Noted!"

Emiko didn't need to be told twice, she dashed outside, then looking up to sky, she breathed "freedom!" her arms in the air above her.

Neji and Hinata came out shortly after, the boy rolling his eyes as he walked past, while Hinata stopped beside her and smiled.

"I declare it is time for a dango break!" Emiko grinned, punching a fist into the air.

"And I declare it's time for a team meeting!" announced a voice from behind them as said person grabbed Emiko's blue vest collar.

Emiko cursed _'damn you, Natski-sensei!'_

* * *

Emiko and Natski were outside the Hokage Building, waiting. Emiko was scowling, annoyed at having been robbed of her dango opportunity, and Natski was just standing there ignoring her.

Standing opposite them was Iruka and a leaf ninja Emiko had never seen before.

He was a little taller than her, maybe a head or so, had orange hair and aqua-coloured eyes. He was wearing standard ninja gear - black pants, sleeve-less shirt and ninja sandals - minus the flack jacket, instead he wore a waist length vest that matched his hair in colour, fingerless gloves and his forehead protector was tied, well, on his head.

There was something oddly familiar about him.

Iruka noticed Emiko staring and hastily began introductions "Emiko, Natski, say hello to your new team member, Kaoru-san"

"Hey" Natski said, lifting a hand in greeting.

The guy nodded in return "Natski-sensei"

_'What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On?'_

* * *

Emiko was confused. Annoyed and confused.

She'd never seen nor heard of this_ 'Kaoru'_ before... except maybe a nagging feeling that he _should_ be familiar...

I'm mean, sure, he's a couple of years older than her - apparently - but you'd think she'd at least have seen him around the Village or something... _maybe she did...?_

_'Ugh'_ Emiko sighed dejectedly to herself _'well, at least he looks his age...'_

In case you don't know, being twelve but looking ten is annoying as hell - especially when you _would_ be nineteen by now if it wasn't for some insane-completely-unwanted inter dimensional travel.

Yeah.

Fucking chaos theory.

So anyway.

Natski clapped her hands together, watching Emiko and her new charge's faces apprehensively as they stood outside the BBQ place. She figured it would be a brilliant idea if we all went to lunch to 'get to know each other better'.

So much for easing the tension.

Yeah, this was going to go just swimmingly...

* * *

"So are you gonna tell me what this is about?" Emiko asked Natski in a low voice as they sat in a booth, meat sizzling, and Kaoru went off to buy some drinks. Soft drinks. He's not_ that_ old, thank you.

"What's what?"

"What?"_ 'Damn it!'_ Emiko glared.

Natski smirked "would you give it a rest already? I'll explain later" she replied, serious now, watching Kaoru pick up the tray of drinks and start back towards the table "just... try and get along for now, okay? Think of it as training"

"Fine..."

* * *

"So... you guys come here for training, eh?" Kaoru asked, scanning the clearing/training field.

Having had lunch, Emiko decided if he was going to be a part of the team - _if_ and that's a _big _if should she have any choice it it (which she doesn't) - then she figured he should know their 'routine' so to speak.

"Yep" she responded.

Kaoru quite obviously eyed the marks of chakra-exploded bark at the bottom of a few trees and the kunai marks a fair way up the tree.

Yeah, that's right. Emiko did it _finally_. Took her almost a week to get the chakra flow right,_ but she did it_.

"Okay!" Natski interrupted the silence, clapping her hands together. _Why_ does she keep doing that?

"How about a no-holds barred sparring session?" Natski continued "just so I can see where my students are at"

The tone of her voice implied a warning.

Emiko frowned as Kaoru nodded, then turned and walked a few metres away.

"Just remember, this is a _sparring session_" Natski repeated - the tone was still there. Something wasn't right. She'd noticed somethin- no, she _knew_ something Emiko didn't.

She narrowed her eyes _'... I'm NOT going to like where this is going, am I?'_

Regardless, she stood opposite him, sizing him up as he did the same to her.

"You guys can start whenever you're ready"

Suddenly, in a flicker, Kaoru disappeared.

_'God damn it, I **hate** that jutsu!'_

And here's where her chakra sensitivity came in handy.

_'Behind!'_

Emiko immediately pivoted on the heel of her right foot, bringing up her left arm in a firm block, a kunai in that hand to block his.

Surprise flickered across his face for a second, sparks flying as their blades clashed, and then he jumped back, landing a few metres away, watching.

Emiko drew another kunai and fell into a reversed hand grip - but Kaoru was already responding, shuriken flying from his hands.

She just managed to dodge most of them, one cutting her cheek and another her right arm. The two ran across the clearing, keeping no less then five metres away from each other, eyes locked on the other.

Kaoru threw a few kunai, and Emiko quickly dodged them, faintly hearing them thud into the tree behind her.

Then suddenly her mind flashed back to when the knives flew past.

Explosive tags.

There were freaking _explosive tags_ wrapped around the handles!

_**BOOM!**_

* * *

"That _sonvabitch!_"

"Emiko-chan! W- we are in pu- public!" Hinata protested weakly.

"But _Hinataaaaa~!_" Emiko pouted, pointing her white scarf "he tarnished it! _Tarnished it_! It's ruined! _Hokage-sama gave this to meeee!_"

"Would you stop acting like a child? That was two weeks ago - I'm ashamed to share my age with you"

"_Screw you, baka-Neji!_ It was on freaking _fire_!" Emiko retorted, then fell into a tirade of english swears and curses. Thank god Hinata didn't know english, poor girl would be traumatized with all the words Emiko was using...

Besides that, her outburst of swearing in the middle of the street was justified, damn it! _The bastard singed the scarf!_

Okay, so maybe it's not exactly practical to wear a scarf when you're a ninja... especially a white one... but the Third gave it to her for her birthday last year. She _wanted_ to wear it, damn it!

They'd just bought her a pair of zori sandels - how the _hell_ does Jiraiya walk in those? - and that was probably the only reason baka-Neji was there. No, wait, it was _definitely_ the only reason he was there.

Emiko turned her attention back to the retailer "and I want eight of these too!" she said, pointing to a line of red kanji on the inventory list.

"Are you sure miss? Those very potent and-"

"Am I _sure?_" Emiko repeated sarcastically, then pointed to her forehead protector "of_ course_ I'm sure!"

The owner of the weapons shop sighed, adding it to her order "okay, so you have 45 kunai, 23 smoke bombs, 12 small explosive tags and 8 medium - that comes to... 31,350 ryo"

Emiko nodded, grudgingly handing over the money. She _had_ been saving it for the kimono... but this was important too.

* * *

Her order came in about a week later, but unfortunately, even though she'd been able to pick up her order early that morning, Emiko's 'revenge' would have to be delayed. It was mission time.

However, being as stubborn as she was, Emiko deliberately stood on the other side of Natski from Kaoru during the briefing.

The bastard hadn't done anything to redeem her impression of him in the last two weeks - in fact, he'd made it worse by being such a freaking show off with all the D-Ranks they'd be doing.

Emiko was not amused.

"Alright, today you are being assigned-"

"Assigned?" Emiko blurted out. They'd never been _assigned_ a mission before. Weird.

Ignoring Emiko, Iruka continued "-a C-Rank bodyguard mission. Remember Emiko, be nice and you'll be fine"

Said girl was torn between rolling her eyes and glaring at him.

She decided on glaring.

_The Death Glare._

"Alright, bring them in"

... obviously not a very effective Death Glare. She would have to work on that.

Meanwhile, two people were walking in from the Client waiting room. The first one Emiko noticed was a pale girl around maybe eighteen, with long red hair tied up in a thin waist length braid, she had kinda stormy grey coloured eyes and was wearing what looked like a slightly longer version of a thigh-length, crane-patterned kimono coloured light blue with a darker blue underneath and a large blue obi tied at the small of her back in a large bow. She looked nervous.

The second client, following closely behind the girl, was a boy around the same age with raven black hair and green eyes, and he looked to be wearing something like a traditional grey and black hakama with a katana at his waist.

Emiko immediately registered his expression as distrustful and filed it away.

"I expect you have experience with this sort of thing?" the boy asked, with a sharp tongue "I will not have amateurs protecting my Akiko"

The mentioned girl blushed furiously.

Emiko raised an eyebrow _'hmm...'_

Well this was certainly going to be interesting.

* * *

The team left that morning on foot, their packs light.

Well, except for the large cart the boy - Takahama - was towing. Apparently it contained his and the girl's, Akiko's, personal effects.

They traveled on quietly, passing through the forest that was alive with sounds of nature, of birds and of trees moved by a light breeze, and then by the farm lands, where people worked hard to make their livelihood.

Emiko breathed in the fresh air deeply that swept across the plains, so pollution free, as her eyes took in the wide, natural landscapes, with cloud-capped mountains visible in the distance.

It was a beautiful sight to see - all she remembered physically seeing of Earth landscapes was suburbs, the city and camping trips with Guides.

... she wasn't very adventurous.

"You are very young"

"Pardon?" Emiko asked, turning her head to see Akiko was now walking beside her.

She looked at Emiko inquiringly "I said, you look very young to be a ninja"

"I'm not really..." Emiko replied carefully "twelve is the standard age for graduation from the Academy, so..."

"Oh" the look on her face said she'd thought Emiko was younger.

Emiko could tell by now, she'd seen the look enough times.

"Although I have been told I'm very mentally mature for my age" Emiko continued, distracted "so if you want to talk or something..."

Akiko looked happy with the idea.

As they were walking, Emiko noticed a flash of reflected light coming from something around her neck.

"What's that?"

"Hmm...?" Aiko looked down to see her necklace had fallen from the folds of her kimono, she smiled warmly "oh, this... Takahama gave me this for my birthday when we were younger" she held it up for Emiko to see.

It was a butterfly made of white stone hanging from a battered looking necklace chain and was about the size of a thumb. It was beautiful, and while it looked old, it was well taken care of.

"It's beautiful" Emiko breathed.

"Yes, I cherish it very much" Akiko replied.

Emiko was still watching Kaoru out of the corner of her eye - he was apparently getting on well with Takahama and the two had been chatting since they left Konoha.

She wasn't sure about him yet, maybe she'd give it a while longer. Something just felt _off_ about him... plus the familiarity thing that she couldn't place was really starting to bug her.

As Kakashi says - will say? stupid tenses - once a ninja feels that there's something wrong, he must prepare for it before it's too late. It's one of the iron rules of being a ninja.

And Emiko would be prepared.

* * *

Standing on the veranda of the girls' room, Emiko, wearing a plain white yukata, finished off a tall glass of orange juice and grinned before dropping into a sitting position.

Nothing like some refreshing fruit juice after a long bath in a hot spring!

Akiko was sitting quietly beside her, gazing at her beloved white butterfly, and Natski was in the room drinking sake.

Yeah. She drinks. _A lot_. Thankfully though, she hates gambling, which is good because she's horrible at it... that, and she can sober up quickly when she needs to.

"So what's up?" Emiko asked.

A faint _"yosh!"_ was heard from their room. They ignored it.

"..." Akiko looked at her questioningly.

_'Oh, right. Isolated upbringing = little knowledge of slang'_

"Uh, I mean, what's wrong?" Emiko elaborated "you look like you're thinking pretty hard about something and I was just wondering if you wanted to talk about it or something... I mean we've only known each other for a few days, but-"

Putting up a hand to stop Emiko's rambling, Akiko smiled "... it's nothing, really. I was just thinking..."

"What about? You look like it's bothering you" Emiko asked as she poured another glass of yummy oj.

"Well... not really _bothering_ me, it's just..."

Emiko nervously averted her eyes to the night sky. She was a ninja, not a counselor, damn it. But she would listen all the same.

"Have you ever fallen in love, Emiko-san?" Emiko almost choked on her orange juice.

Then the genin frowned "I- well- no, no I haven't..."

"Then it may be difficult for you to understand..."

"Why? You love Takahama, don't you?" _'Why are relationships so damn complicated...?'_

Akiko's gaze snapped over to look at her in surprise "of course I do!"

"Then what else is there to understand? That's all that matters isn't it? That you love each other, and make each other happy..."

Akiko blushed.

"Oh, crap... I'm being really blunt again, aren't I?" Emiko started, looking apologetic "sorry... I just- it's a bad habit of mine,, I'm working on it-"

"... no, that's alright" Akiko replied "it's just... nice to hear out loud, said by some else... so pure and simple"

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple" the kunoichi quoted, suddenly serious as she stared at the wooden floor.

Then, looking up, she saw Akiko's worried face, so Emiko smiled reassuringly "but with this... I think you two lovebirds are going to be fine"

* * *

_Chapter End_

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading!**

**Please remember to rate, author/story alert, fav and/or review! It really _does_ make me write faster and I absolutely _love_ getting them!**

**See ya,**  
**Milley02**


	5. TWB, Prt2 - In the Snow, They Wait

**A/N: Hey everyone! New~ chapter~! And no, the angst isn't going away that easily. Also, this is the longest~ chapter~ I have _ever~_ written~! It's _crazy_; took me _ages_ too... so don't expect all of them to be this long.**

**When reading this chapter, please remember that there are a lot of things still unknown about Kaoru and his life prior to his introduction to the story, so be sure not to take anything he says or does in this chapter as... unrealistic. And lastly, please keep in mind the facts that Kaoru is 13 and, as far as personality goes, for various reasons they are _both_ socially retarded.**

**Anyways. Cookies for reviewers~ phantom130_5 & Beleg Ohtar ! 0extraMandM0, angelbeets, Beleg Ohtar, Bookielovesanimeeee, n a g a s h i . n o . k u r o, phantom130 5, sandluvr1213, XxBishxX for adding to your favourites! Bookielovesanimeeee, cleareyes25, DanteShindo, Hitsugaya Aiko, leroalice, phantom130 5, sandluvr1213, Vladlette , and XxBishxX for adding to your story alerts!**

**EDIT 13/3/2012 : And thanks to ****phantom130_5** for adding **Underdog no More ****to the Community 'Awesome O.C.s' ****! XD  
**

**Remember; reviews, story alerts, and favourites motivate me to write chapters faster!**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T own anything to do with the anime/manga Naruto! I only own Emiko, Kaoru and Natski-sensei, everything else belongs to Masashi Kishimoto!**

**Extended Summary; A Ninja of Destiny? Not if she can help it. 'Emiko' is an anime fan from our world who's forced to survive in a foreign environment - the hidden village of Konoha in a world she thought was fiction. After an entire year, lots of ninja training, searching and theories, she's beginning to come to terms with the fact she may never get back home, when familiar events begin to occur... AU!ContainsGirlOC**

**'~' indicates flashbacks.**

**WARNING: This chapter contains angst, descriptions of horror and violence...oh, and also a smidge of 'young love' and social retardedness(?).**

* * *

_Chapter 5 - The White Butterfly, Part 2; In the Snow, They Wait_

* * *

Emiko sat on the ground, leaning against the root of chestnut tree, her eyes closed as she felt a light breeze brush by her.

_"Ookina kuri no ki no shita de,_  
_anata to watashi..."_

Akiko, having decided not to sit down and rest like everyone else (though that may have been because she wasn't carrying anything), decided to reveal her love of the arts by dancing around the tree, singing a children's song she learned from her caretaker.

_"... nakayoku asobimashou,_

_ookina kuri no ki no shita de"_

Once Emiko translated it in her head, she found it both oddly appropriate and fitting for someone as innoccent as Akiko.

_'Under the big chestnut tree,_

_You and me,_

_ Are playing happily,_

_Under the big chestnut tree.'_

Yeah, not very creative, I know; but with so few words, it was definitely catchy...

Besides that, it had been a pretty normal morning. Nothing strange or unusual.

The group had checked out of the hot springs some time around 9:30 and were on the road again soon after where Emiko continued to gwake at the scenery like the child she appeared to be and Akiko would continue to find it amusing as the 'older', taller girl.

They'd passed a few intersections, another forest and a couple of towns - they were making great progress - before Natski decided to stop for rest.

The aforementioned jounin took that moment to leapt down from trees "alright everyone, back on your feat" she ordered.

She was met with a variety of responses, Emiko being the only one to groan as they got back on their feet. She was really enjoying the sunshine.

As they took to the road, Akiko began insisting that Emiko try memorizing one of the songs - but with the ever present sounds of Takahama and Kaoru still chatting away in the background the entire time, it was becoming really difficult to concentrate with her paranoid thoughts ticking away in the back of her mind.

What the hell were they talking about that could be so interesting, you ask?

Emiko would continue wonder...

* * *

"So... girls like flowers?"

"That's not what I said" Takahama replied, sighing "what I said was _Akiko_ likes flowers - particularly white magnolia, it means 'natural' and the colour implies 'chastity and puri-"

"-but we're not talking about Akiko" Kaoru interrupted "... and why do you know so much about flowers anyway?"

"No, we're talking about a girl this 'friend of your's likes" Takahama said, smiling "and it would be shameful if I didn't know, I am proud samurai after all"

Kaoru stared "... he _does_ exist, you know. My friend, I mean"

"Of course, I never said he didn't..."

"Yeah, sure"

"... I only implied it" Takahama added slyly.

Kaoru shot him a sideways glare "can we just get back the 'language of the flowers' stuff already?"

"Alright, alright..." Takahama chuckled, smirking at the younger boy "so what kind of person is this girl?"

"What do you mean?"

Takahama let out a thoughtful sigh "hmm... let's see... what is she interested in? Activies, hobbies, likes, dislikes... her personality? That sort of thing"

"Well, she's childish and kind; sometimes too kind for her profession-"

"What is her occupation, by the way?"

"She's a ninja, like me- well, not really like me, but-"

"-so she's a kunoichi then? Alright, what else?"

"Uhh... she is very active in her training and studies... and is quick to anger at times, but at other times she can be calm - especially when I don't expect it"

"Unpredictable then?"

"At times, yeah" Kaoru continued, a small smile curling the corners of his lips "like in a social environment, she never really looks like she wants to be there, like she's... bored. But whenever we're training or on a mission, her attitude changes so drastically that it's a little unnerving really"

"Is that so?" Takahama asked, briefly glancing in the girl in question's direction. Yeah.

"Yeah" Kaoru breathed "she just suddenly get's so focused..."

"-so do you like her?"

Kaoru looked up and stared at the older teen, looking as innocent and naive as any child "yeah! And I want to her like me too!"

"You want to win her heart, eh?" Takahama jibed. He'd loosened up quite a bit once he'd gotten to know the ninja.

It took Kaoru a full minute of confused thinking to grasp what Takahama was referring to - then the ninja's face abruptly went beet red and he immediately began protesting.

"_What-?_ No! _Of course not!_ How could you-?_ No!_ Just- _NO!_"

Takahama burst out laughing as Kaoru kept spouting half-formed protests.

Kids are _so_ fun to mess with.

* * *

Natski sighed long sufferingly.

_'Typical children...'_

She _always_ gets the weird ones.

* * *

Emiko's head jerked up as she heard Takahama burst out laughing.

What the _hell_ are those two talking about?

Unconsciously, she pouted.

From beside her, Akiko stopped singing and lecturing as her shoulders started shaking and she tried to suppress her laughter, both hands pressed to her wide grin.

"What?" Emiko asked "'what is it? What did I do?"

"Nothing, nothing~" Akiko giggled, still smiling broadly "you just look so _adorable_ when you pout!"

"When I _what?_"

But she was ignored, Akiko was now too 'busy' admiring the little round bell Takahama had bought her, trying to attach it to the old chain that held her cherished little white butterfly.

Bored again, Emiko's gaze moved forward. Instantly, her eyes trained on a group approaching from the distance.

Not really anything odd - with them traveling, a roadblock or ambush would be better suited tactics... but you never really know for sure.

_'Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised.'_

As they approached, she appraised them.

There seem to be only four, but there were also strange chakra presences in the forest around the same area.

An ambush?

All but one of the visible four looked to be in their late teens, the other look older.

It looked suspiciously like a standard four-man team.

_Odd_, but not yet cause for alarm. She could be completely wrong, after all...

Just in case though, she carefully moved her hand behind her back, for Natski and Kaoru to see, and moved her hands in the signs for_ 'suspicious', 'person', 'four', 'or more', 'possible', 'ambush'._

She couldn't risk turning around for confirmation, so she would just have to trust that they'd seen it.

A deliberate hitch in Kaoru's conversation said he saw, and Natski changed her position slightly off the rotation - probably to better cover the clients.

As they came closer, Emiko began to notice strange, sharp, wave-type feeling in a chakra presence... but she couldn't figure out what it was.. or which one it was.

Her fingers began twitching the closer the group got. Something just felt so _wrong_ about them...

As they passed, for a split second a sharp cold feeling struck through her and she realized.

_Killing intent._

Emiko was so unprepared for it that she started choking on her own spit.

Gross, I know, but that was what happened...

as soon as she'd felt it, it was gone. She began to wonder if she'd imagined it... but quickly dismissed that thought.

There was no mistaking killing intent.

Despite everything, the group passed them seemingly without incident.

Emiko frowned, the sound of Akiko's bell jingling in the background.

...

_'Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised.'_

* * *

Emiko and Akiko were becoming more friendly with each other. After all, Akiko was the first female she'd met that was (technically) around the same the age as her.

The genin often found herself ranting about how much of bastard she thought Kaoru was and what she jokingly referred to training as 'abuse' from her sensei.

Akiko took it all in stride, having done her fair share of talking too, giving advice and such, and discussing her own studies at length - specifically about her love of singing, flowers and her hope to find a specific flower once they reached their destination.

Who knew there was so much to know about being the 'perfect wife'?

Akiko is what I guess you would call a 'sheltered maiden', the bred for marriage sort of thing. She grew up in an isolated environment, studied almost constantly on a variety of feminine subjects - so much, that Emiko joked that she was a 'yamato nadeshiko'. She then had to explain the reference.

Takahama and Akiko's story was short and sweet; a typical love story.

Boy meets sheltered girl while on mission.

Mission is to protect said girl.

They fall in love.

Her dad doesn't approve.

They run away.

In this case, back to Takahama's homeland in the Land of Iron.

Yep, Emiko was going to Samurai country.

She could barely contain her excitement.

_Snow!_ And_ Samurai!_

* * *

According to Natski-sensei, as it was considered illegal for foreigners (specifically ninja) to intefer with the Iron Country, they were going to meet up with an escort sent by Takahama's family at an inn just inside the border.

After only an hour of walking, the snow was already thick on the groud and her breath had long since began to crystilize into visible ice particles.

Swathed in her generic brown travel cloak and white scarf wrapped thickly around her neck, Emiko grinned.

_Snow!_

She went skiing once, when she was 15 with her high school.

She'd taken to it immediately. Skiing like she'd been doing it her entire life.

It was the first time she saw snow, and she hadn't been able to get the grin off her face for the whole day.

Emiko could feel the same childish excitement filling her as her eyes darted back and forth over the untouched snow-covered landscape, dead gray trees lining the area.

And then there was the Three Wolves mountains.

Words could barely describe them.

They were beautiful.

_Breath-taking._

In the far distance, she could see them. The three large over hangings that marked the mountain range.

The Land of Iron. Samurai country.

And the place where the Kage Summit would be held in four years time.

Suddenly, she stopped and just stared blanky into the distance, thoughts racing through her mind, fists clenched and shaking.

The Kage Summit.

So-called Madara.

Itachi.

Sasuke.

Orochimaru.

The Akatsuki.

_Naruto..._

**The Fourth Shinobi War.**

For her, this land held so many memories of what was to come.

It was a major turning point in the story, in the history of this world.

Even after all this time in this world, it all still felt so... _surreal._

Like it wasn't really _real._

At times, she still found herself thinking maybe she was in a coma or something and this was just some elaborate dream...

But seeing those mountains. Actually 'seeing the Three Wolves. It hit home on something deep inside her mind.

In four years time, this was where 'Madara' would declare war on the Elemental Nations.

She knew. She _knew._

_And she couldn't tell anyone._

* * *

When they got to the inn, she went to the room, straight out onto the veranda, sat herself down and just stared out into distance.

"Are you coming to the baths, Emiko?" Natski-sensei asked.

"Uh... maybe later" Emiko replied, without turning "I'm just gonna sit out here for a while and meditate or somethin'..."

The two girls gave their 'okays' and the moment the door slid closed, her thoughts slipped back again.

Snow.

School ski trip.

Friends in the snow.

_Laughing friends;_ her _best_ friends.

Friends she would never see again.

Her eye twitched.

_Her friends._

Her hands started shaking and sweating.

_Katie. Tori. Elle._

Her fingers twitched.

_Never again._

Her breath hitched.

_She would never see them again._

Her heart already pounding.

Everything was_ normal. Boring._

Then darkness. _Nothing_.

Her shoulders began to shake.

_Gone._ It was all _gone._

She bit her lip, eyelids closed.

_Never again._

_She would never see any of them again._

"Emiko-san?"

She jerked, eyelids snapping open and then she froze.

_'No. **Anyone** but him!'_

"... are you alright? You're shaking..." Concern. Kaoru was concerned?

She could sense his chakra. He was right behind her.

Closer. Getting closer.

He would _see._

See she wasn't _alright._

See she was _far_ from alright.

"_Stay away from me!_" Emiko hissed. He faltered, and she heard him step back.

"... is something wrong? You can tell me, ya know. Cause we're teammates and all..." she could hear the added serious tone in his voice.

Why _had_ she snapped? Kaoru hadn't done anything to annoy her since the mission started...

Slowly, she took in a deep breath, and then sighed.

"... I'm sorry, okay?" she began, sounding guilty "I- I didn't meant to- I'm just... I'm tired, that's all"

"That's _all...?_" of course, he didn't believe her for a second. She was displaying all the signs of stress - he'd noticed it ever since the first time he saw her.

And then there were the nightmares.

"You... should get some sleep then" he advised, his usual attitude suddenly back, although sounding strained "I'll tell the others that you decided to go to bed early"

She nodded, back still facing him.

Sighing, Kaoru turned to leave, his thoughts full of his troublesome teammate.

"Thank you"

At the door, his footsteps halted and he turned back slightly to look at her, still sitting on the veranda, wrapped up in her cloak and just staring out into the distance. Her hands were still shaking and her breathing yet to return to normal.

He frowned. She wasn't alright.

But she refused to show it. Refused to ask for help.

Sighing, Kaoru left the room and crossed to the room next door. There he found Natski-sensei already sitting on a cushion at the traditional table in the center of the room, eating a simple meal, chopsticks in hand.

Seeing Kaoru's troubled expression, the woman gestured to the seat opposite her.

Wordlessly, Kaoru took the unspoken invitation and after sitting down, began to tell the jounin what had happened.

* * *

The protection detail from Takahama's family consisted of his father, a few bodyguards, two older brothers, and his stubborn cousin.

It was late the next afternoon by the time they had arrived and when immediately after news came of a blizzard coming from further north, everyone decided to wait it out in the inn for another day or two until they could be sure the winds had died down enough for safe travel.

Later on, near dusk, the snow was falling thickly and the wind was beginning to pick up.

From her position on the veranda, Emiko could see the dark clouds broiling in distance, taking up half the sky and the temperature was noticeably colder...

She may not have been in any blizzards, here or in her other life, but she knew a serious storm when she saw one.

This was going to be a_ long_ couple of days.

* * *

"We are _NOT_ telling scary stories"

"Why_ nooooooot?_"

Emiko glared at Kaoru in the candle light of the dark room as Natski-sensei, Akiko and Takahama watched on with amusement.

"... because I said _no_"

"But there's nothing else to do!" he whined.

"Oh for go- _and you say you're older than me!_"

Cue the puppy dog eyes.

"No"

"No no no no no_ no n_- _a million times, no!_"

"... please?"

"I'm not going to relent"

"But I know a really good one!"

"That's not the point, damn it!"

Now, I'm sure you all remember how Emiko was crazy excited about going to that 'haunted temple' a while ago - and you're thinking that this wasn't any different, right? That maybe she just didn't want to deal with Natski-sensei freaking out at the ghost stories?

Well you're be half right - she really _didn't_ want to deal with a freaked out sensei - but this was different in the fact that it delt with one of Emiko _other_ phobias.

Yes, _phobias_ with a _plural._

Only later, Emiko would realize, just sitting in that darkened room, while the blizzard roared outside, telling scary stories with Kaoru, Natski-sensei, Akiko and Takahama - yes, she gave in eventually - was the most fun she'd had in a long while.

But, of course, happy moments never last.

Not in real life.

* * *

Some time later, Emiko woke suddenly, feeling groggy and like she'd barely slept at all.

For a few minutes, she just laid there, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before putting her glasses back on, wondering what woke her... then slowly she realized.

The wind.

Outside, it was _quiet._

Frowning, she moved quietly through the dark room, so as not to wake the others, quickly dressing and equipping herself, she then crept over to the sliding door, her eyes narrowing when she found it unlocked.

She slid the door open, warily.

The silence and stillness, compared to the roaring of the storm battering the inn earlier, was almost shocking.

The area outside the inn was a mostly flat area that stretched about 30 meters or so, until it came to a forest, and the sky was mostly clear blue.

Everything was covered in blinding white snow; for lack of a better phrase, it was an amazing sight. About a foot of snow was sitting on top of everything - fairly light from what Takahama told her last night of the blizzards of his childhood.

From the light, she figured it was around four, maybe five, in the morning as the sun had yet to breach the horizon.

From the doorway she was standing in, she could see a single trail of footsteps leading from the veranda to the edge of the trees, the indent in the snow on the ground showing someone had been walking _away_ from inn.

_Odd._

Grabbing her brown cloak, she set out to investigate, following the tracks.

From her tracking studies with Natski - one of a vast variety of subjects she'd begged the jounin to teach her - she could tell they were fresh, barely ten minutes old.

Who ever it was hadn't been gone long and didn't seem to have any training concerning the covering of their tracks.

Judging by the size and shape of the footprint, the person was small and light - possibly female - and wasn't in any kind of a hurry. The tracks lead sporadically across the ground, from tree to tree, back and forth, as if the person was looking for something in the snow.

Through process of elimination, the possibilities of the person's identity quickly came down to very few.

Natski had ninja training, so she would have walked on top of snow or at least subconsciously covered her tracks, then again, knowing her, she probably wouldn't even be up this early... all ruled her out.

The majority of the inn's guests were male and none of them looked small or young enough to match the tracks - that ruled them out too.

It could be one of the owner's daughters... but why would they be out so early? And alone, for that matter, so soon after a blizzard like that?

The unsure ground under the thick freshly fallen snow made it dangerous enough - and that was without even considering the fact that the local animals would be coming out of their shelters soon to forage or hunt for food.

It would have to be someone who was new to the area then... someone who, unlike her, was too naive to think of these... things.

That only left one possibility.

_Akiko_ was out there somewhere.

_Alone._

With a new found urgency, Emiko moved on, thankful for her Tree Climbing training that - after several tries along the way to the inn - allowed her walk across the semi-solid state of the surface of the snow.

Akiko however, with no such training, would not be so lucky; if she came across something hazardess in this unknown terrain, she could easily fall prey to the frozen environment or it's - most likely hungry - fauna.

_"... yuki ya konko arare ya konko,_  
_Futte wa futte wa zunzun tsumoru..."_

Akiko?

_"Yama mo nohara mo wataboshi kaburi,_  
_Kareki nokorazu hana ga saku..."_

The genin spread out her senses, searching for Akiko's warm pinkish signature. She sounded so close, but her voice was echoing around in the silence, making it hard to pin point exactly where...

_"Yuki ya konko arare ya konko,_  
_Futtemo futtemo mada furiyamanu..."_

After a few seconds, Emiko spotted the girl not far ahead of her, and sped up.

_"... inu wa yorokobi niwa kakemawari-"_

"_Akiko!_" Emiko sighed, relieved as all hell when she spotted the girl, kneeling on the ground, searching in the snow.

At the call of her name, she stopped singing and looked up, startled, red hair flying as she whipped her head around, only to relax when she saw it was only Emiko.

"Good morning, Emiko-chan!" the girl began, a guilty smile appearing on her face "I was just-"

"Akiko, geez!" Emiko interuptted "I know you've never really left your father's compound before all this - but you don't just _wander off like that without telling anyone!_ You scared the life out of me!"

The guilt on Akiko's face multiplied, the smile disappearing.

_'Great. Wonderful work there, Em. Great going!'_ Emiko thought to herself sarcastically.

The genin sighed, bringing her hands up to rub her temples "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I've been having a bad couple of days..."

"Here, let me have a look" Akiko offered, and Emiko gladly allowed the girl over.

As the tension in her head started to ease a little in response to Akiko being alright, she began to notice something strange.

The quiet.

It wasn't just _quiet_, it was **_dead _**_quiet._

Slowly, Emiko's senses began to take in what she hadn't noticed before in her determination to find Akiko.

Listening past the older girl's concerned admonishing about getting proper sleep, Emiko spread out her chakra awareness again and found there was a _disturbing_ lack of wildlife in the area.

And while the air was not completely still, it felt... oddly _lighter._

"... Akiko, how long would you say you've been out here?"

Akiko stopped chattering to stare at the younger girl with a puzzled look.

"Please, humor me"

Slowly, the girl nodded "I've only been out here around thirty minutes or so" here, she began blushing slightly "I was looking for a snowdrop flower for Takahama..."

Oh. The snowdrop flower. She'd talked about those before. It was a small, white bell-shaped flower that grew in the colder climates, usually found sprouting up from the snow late in the winter season.

She'd been excited about finally getting to see one, it was no wonder she'd taken the first opportunity to go look for one - but all the same, she shouldn't have gone off on her own like this.

The timing was right too, with how far out she'd gone, Emiko had only missed her leaving the inn by about ten minutes...

But that nagging thought still tugged at the edge of mind. Something was _definitely_ wrong.

Emiko's eyes wandered over behind Akiko, passing over the trees as she spread out her senses just that _little_ bit further...

"... I was up very early this morning, listening to the blizzard. When suddenly it just stopped and I-"

"_What?_" Emiko's eyes snapped over to the girl, wide in sudden comprehension as all the facts fell into place "what did you just say?"

Akiko paused, taken back by the tone of Emiko's voice "... I said, the wind suddenly just stopped"

The Eye.

The _Eye_.

_They were in the bloody **Eye of the storm.**_

And to make things worse, she could feel the twitches of hidden unfamiliar chakra signatures floating around just at the edge of her range of awareness.

The stress Emiko had been feeling, lately more so, suddenly _peaked._

And she panicked.

She grabbed Akiko's wrist and started charging back at a fast walk through the forest towards the inn.

"_Wha-?_ Emiko-chan, what are you doing? I'm sorry I left without saying anything!"

She ignored her, eyes darting between keeping an eye on the sky and sweeping over the trees.

"_Ow! Please!_ Emiko-chan, let go of my wrist - _it's hurting me!_"

The moment she started moving, the chakra signatures had reacted and began closing in on the two girls.

Emiko increased her pace to fast jog - anything past that and Akiko wouldn't be able to keep up for long.

She considered shouting - any kind of noise would travel far in this dead silence - but quickly decided against it.

If these guys meant business, she couldn't risk drawing their hostility too soon - hell, maybe she could talk her way out of whatever this was. A slim chance, but a chance none-the-less.

Suddenly, the signatures became visible. Three vaguely familiar figures jumped down from the trees and landed in a semi-circle between the two girls and the far safety of the inn.

_'Fuck my life...'_

Emiko immediately skidded to a stop, kicking up snow, one hand still on Akiko's wrist as she kept the older girl behind her, the other hand holding a kunai in front of her defensively.

"Look, sensei! It's just brat! And a girl at that!"

"Haha ha!" another one of them burst out "she's shakin' in her boots!"

And Emiko _was_ shaking. Although her expression was set grimly; mentally, she was _scared out of her mind._ And it was starting to show.

Akiko, having partially realized how dangerous the situation was, attempted to placate the group.

"Now, gentlemen, I'm sure we can come to some sort of agre-"

"Oh, shut up, would you?" one of the shorter ones snapped.

"Tatsuya!" the tallest one scolded, then turned back to the girls "we're not bandits, girl. We're not here to rob you"

"The- then who are you?" Emiko asked, mentally cursing herself for stuttering. She _doesn't_ stutter, damn it.

"Our business is with the girl-" the tallest continued.

"-we don't want to fight with a leaf nin" 'Tatsuya' added.

"And I don't want to fight a kid..." the last one added.

"She's not a kid, she's a ninja. Now man up, or I'll cut your mission pay" quipped the tallest.

"_Hai!_"

While they were arguing among themselves, Emiko had realized where the familiarity was coming from.

She'd _seen_ them before. Four days ago.

They passed them on the road.

They were the group that was radiating killing intent.

They'd been following them.

_They'd been following them-_

Her grip on her kunai tightened.

"Hold onto me" she whispered to the girl behind her "_now!_"

With only a moment's hesitation, Akiko latched onto the genin's back tightly as Emiko's eyes stayed trained on the group.

"What is she-?" one started.

Emiko suddenly forced more chakra into her feet, making the snow exploded up and outwards in a shower, cutting him off and temporarily reducing any visability to zero.

Then she immediately turned to the right and darted off, taking to the trees.

Every branch groaned and wobbled under them as she leapt from tree to tree - but it was faster than running along the ground, and if she could _just_ make it to the lake-

Her thoughts were cut off as an explosion blew up from the direction of the inn, thick dark smoke beginning to rise into the air.

Emiko's heart lurched as the panic tried to overwhelm her again, and she barely managed to force it down in time to dodge a hail of kunai that came from behind her.

Basic sabotage and distraction tactics.

When they realized Emiko was going to fight, they must have activated a back up plan to keep everyone at the inn so they could take her out and spirit Akiko away while everyone would be dealing with the fire.

In any case, it would explain where the other member of their team went...

_Alright!_ Time to draw attention!

"Akiko!" Emiko started, but the other girl didn't answer, her face buried in the hoodie of the genin's vest "_Akiko,_ I need you to listen to me!"

"Ye- yes?" Akiko stuttered as they leapt to another branch, avoiding another hail of kunai.

"I need you to grab some small tags out of my pouch-! No, the bigger one! On the right side of my waist!"

"Here!" in the corner of her sight, Emiko could see Akiko holding out four small explosive tags - with slightly modified kanji - and the genin immediately began slapping them on some random trees as they passed.

Quick note to any ninja-in-training; modifing explosive tags is both difficult and dangerous- and also **_very unrecommended._**

... unless you are being supervised by someone older with the correct certifications.

Like Asuma.

**_BOOM! BOOM!_**

Emiko jerked, they were so _close - _she almost messed up the landing on the next branch.

_**BOOM! BOOM!**_

"_Ah-!_"

She got one! For a spilt second, Emiko a strange feeling of glee rise up inside her chest, then two tagged kunai thunked into her next landing spot.

Emiko cursed under her breath as Akiko ducked her face back into her hoodie, and the genin surged more chakra into her feet.

_**BOOM!**_

The tags exploded just after she leapt off the branch, sending her and Akiko spiraling to the snowy ground, trailing smoke and pieces of wood.

Emiko landed hard, face first into the snow, ears ringing and breathless, almost making her loose consciousness.

It took her a precious few seconds to regain her breathing and footing enough to stand, before she turned to face the pursuers.

She stumbled over to Akiko, who was laying in the snow, unconscious, a fair few meters away, and stood in a defensive position in front of her as she quickly tried to take stock of the situation.

Her chakra level was still okay, but she was beginning to loose feeling in her feet up to her knees - probably a result of her suddenly shoving all that chakra down there... - so if she picked Akiko up now, she _probably_ wouldn't be able to run anywhere, and if she _did_ manage it, they wouldn't get very far...

Looks like she really would have to fight.

Emiko drew two kunai and stood in a basic defense stance, one positioned in front of her chest and another down by her waist.

"We're just here for the girl, kid" Tatsuya snapped as he landed in front of her wielding a kusarigama.

A chain sickle. _Great._

Emiko ducked out of the way of a few shuriken as he dove in for the attack, swiping at her with the sickle, weighted chain swinging wildly.

She barely managed to dodge the chain, the weight skimming past her nose, before ducking back in and then having to deal with blocking the blade of the sickle with one of her kunai as one of the others dropped in from behind him and started going through hand seals.

Rumbling started beneath her feat, forcing her to leap back, dragging Akiko with her, just before several spikes of ice shot up from ground.

_Definitely_ ninja.

"Damn it, Hatsu! _What the hell?_ You almost got me!" Tatsuya yelled from beside him, pointing at his... friend.

"Then you shouldn't have gotten in the way" 'Hatsu' responded calmly.

"Friendly fire! _Friendly fire!_" Tatsuya continued to shout.

"Would you two just _stop it_ for five seconds?" the tallest grumbled as he leapt down from the trees "we're supposed to be on a damn mission here!"

"_Gomen_, Kora-sensei" the two teens chorused in a deadpan.

Emiko was hit with the realization that if this was in fact a team of foreign ninja - which it appeared very much to be - then this was going to end _very_ badly for her.

She was completely outnumbered and 'outgunned', so to speak.

And so, not for the first time that day, Emiko panicked.

Without considering the consequences, she shoved more chakra into her legs and _forced_ them to move, then grabbed Akiko, slung her over her shoulder and ran like hell.

She took to the trees again, ignoring the shouts of surprise and protest from the people behind her, and headed closer to the lake, now running parallel to the inn.

If she could _just_ make it to the open field, then she might be visible to the inn - and, consequently, all the people staying there.

Natski-sensei, Kaoru, Takahama and the protection detail included.

She could hear the pursuers giving chase again, catching up to her quickly. But before they could catch her, she reached the edge of the open field and jumped off the last branch.

_"Hyoton: Tsubame Fubuki!"_ (Ice Release: Swallow Snow Storm)

Emiko landed, skidding around in a half circle and kicking up as much snow as she could between her and the ice swallows that dived in to attack her.

Some of the birds burst through the snow wall, cutting at her arms and legs as she kept running.

Whipping out another kunai with her free hand, Emiko charged it with chakra, turning to intercept Tatsuya as he leapt in with his kusarigama.

The genin, having dropped Akiko to the ground behind her, launched into a series of quick bladed swipes and sweeping kicks, shattering the blade of his sickle and pushing the other ninja back as she reached for signal tag.

"_Emiko!_" shrieked a voice, and she jerked her head around to see a now-awake Akiko being restrained by an unfamiliar man.

He was dressed similarly to the others, but wore no standard ninja gear and looked older, maybe in his late thirties.

Then she was sent flying by a kick to her side, the tag slipping from her hand as she rolled hard across the ground before sliding to a stop on her side, glasses gone from her face.

She was struggling to breath, when suddenly, another barrage of ice spikes shot up around her, a slicing pain erupting from her bruised side.

She bit back a scream, tears gathering in her eyes, sight that was already bad without her glass beginning to blur and darken at the edges.

It was quiet again.

The sound of footsteps stopped just beside her, she looked up, trying not to flinch as it was painful to move.

"... sorry, kid" Tatsuya mumbled.

_Akiko! Damn it!_

"Akiko...!" Emiko called. She could barely see them through the ice spikes, but it was obvious that the girl was unconscious again, slung over the stranger's shoulder, unmoving.

"Sensei!" another figure dropped into the clearing, it was a girl "they're sending out search parties - I think they might've seen me"

"Alright. Everyone, we're leaving!" Kora-sensei declared.

"But what about-!" Tatsuya started to protest, looking over at Emiko.

"I _said_, we're _leaving_" Kora repeated, firmly "didn't you see who the jounin on that girl's team was? She'll be fine, they'll find her soon enough"

"But-!"

"Just leave it, Tatsuya!" the girl snapped "if sensei says it's alright, then it's alright"

Then they left.

Leaving Emiko trapped in a prison of ice spikes, bleeding steadily from her left side, her cloak torn open and exposing her to the the wind that was whistling through louder and stronger.

It was getting harder for her to breathe now, her vision almost gone, all feeling gone from her legs.

She struggled to stay awake, but the darkness took her anyway.

* * *

_Chapter End_

* * *

**A/N: Quick question! What do you think Emiko's chakra nature affinity should be? I'm caught between Earth and Wind. Though she will probably learn the other much later on... I want to pick one now so I can start collecting jutsu for her. What do you think fits her and her personality?**

**Oh, and if anyone's wondering, why Emiko's suddenly got a hoodie vest... it's because one of my friends is drawing a fanart of her and drew it in. And, well, I got excited (as I do with hoodies, I LOVE them) and decided it would become canon for my story. So... Emiko now has a hood attached to the back of her vest.**

**Thanks to everyone who's still reading!**

**Although she sings it at a slower pace, the song Akiko sings is a japanese children's song called 'Snow', a translation and a recording can be found here (remember to remove spaces); http:/ /www. mamalisa. com/ ?t=es&p=84 4&c=85**

**The first song, 'Under the Big Chestnut Tree' can be found here; http: /www .mamalisa .com/?t=es& p=845&c=85**

**Also, please remember to rate, author/story alert, fav and/or review! It really DOES make me write faster and I absolutely LOVE getting them!**

**Milley02**


	6. TWB, Prt3 - Raid, the Aftermath

**A/N: Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeah~ I'm baaaaaaack :D**

**Okay, so ONE person sent me a PM with their thoughts on Emiko's chakra affinity, but I still have no idea what to pick! For now, she's just going be using a few low-level generic jutsu - but I really want everyone's opinion on this! Hell, what elemental affinity do 'you think she should have? Earth? Wind? Fire? Water? Review or PM me please!**

**Also, I'm currently rewriting the first chapter again. I read it today, just before I posted this, and it's annoying the hell out of me. It'll probably be done by the time I post the next chapter... whenever that will be. Nothing majorly important will be added/changed, but you're still welcome to reread it once I've posted it.**

**Remember; reviews, story/author alerts and favourites motivate me to write chapters faster! Thank you to everyone who does~!**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T own anything to do with the anime/manga Naruto! I only own Emiko, Kaoru, Natski-sensei, Tsume, Hige, Akiko and Takahama - everything else belongs to Masashi Kishimoto!**

**Extended Summary; A Ninja of Destiny? Not if she can help it. 'Emiko' is an anime fan from our world who's forced to survive in a foreign environment - the hidden village of Konoha in a world she thought was fiction. After an entire year, lots of ninja training, searching and theories, she's beginning to come to terms with the fact she may never get back home, when familiar events begin to occur... AU!ContainsGirlOC**

**.~. begins flashbacks**

**'~' ends flashbacks**

**-~D~- beginning/ending of dream**

**Did I mention that Emiko has been drawn? Because she has~! In the style of Naruto Height Chart XD Check my profile for the deviantart link! I also made the story cover art a thumbnail of it~ :)**

* * *

_Chapter 6 - The White Butterfly, Prt3; Raid, the Aftermath_

* * *

Light began creeping back into her eyes as her vision returned.

She felt stiff, numb. Her eyes felt dry from being open so long.

She blinked.

Instantly, pain stabbed into her side from the small movement.

The ice spikes were still criss-crossed above her. She could see something red.

And it was cold. So _cold._

Cringing, she breathed slowly, each intake jolting the wound in her side, as she forced her brain to function.

The wind was beginning to pick up again, so she must not have been out for long... maybe twenty minutes at most.

She needed to find shelter and _fast._

The Eye wouldn't last much longer and when the blizzard raged again, she would have little time left before her body gave in to the sub zero temperatures and she froze to death.

Emiko tried moving her legs, but the shock of more pain shooting up her limbs the instant she tried, forced her to stop.

"God, _damn it_" she hissed, her voice cracking, black creeping in on the edges of her vision again.

'_amn it, damn it, damn it!_

The sound of crunching snow made her freeze. There was something... she could see something in the corner of her eye.

She twisted her head carefully, trying to see.

A... blurry grey shape was making it's way toward her.

Emiko frowned, squinting as she tried to see, but then remembered she'd lost her glasses somewhere and gave up on the futile effort.

The shape was slowly coming into focus as it quickly moved closer, jogging across the snowy clearing on all fours.

Slowly, she realized it was a grey wolf with darker grey markings.

Instantly, she was filled with fear. Frightened thoughts running through her head, chanting, fuelling her fear.

_It's gonna eat me. It's going to kill me. I'm going to die. **I'm really going to die!**_

She tried to move again, to get away, but a wave of exhaustion hit her along with the pain this time, and again she found herself struggling to remain conscious.

The wolf approached her slowly, as if trying to appear non-threatening, it's head lowered.

Once it was convinced the injured girl wasn't going to lash out, it wove it's head carefully in between the ice spikes.

It was so close, she could hear it breathing. _Feel_ the heat from it's breath.

It seemed to appraise her, looking at her from head to toe and taking in the wounds, narrowing it's eyes as it glanced at the blood that was splattered over one of the spikes and the pool that stained the snow beneath her.

Then, when it turned to leave, her exhausted mind registered something tied around it's neck.

_A leaf forehead protector?_

Then a hand was suddenly ghosting over her side, and her eyes darted over to see a familiar orange-haired figure kneeling next to her, a frown on his face.

"... Kaoru?"

His brown eyes darted up to meet her half-lidded ones.

A wolf howl pierced the air and seconds later the sounds of multiple footsteps crunching through the snow drifted towards her and then the wolf was back in sight... wait, was she seeing double...?

Kaoru turned away to meet them.

"Emiko!"

Natski-sensei?

The woman appeared in her vision, a worried-as-hell expression on her face.

She was saying something. There was chatter between the two ninja.

Were those wolves_ talking_...?

Emiko could barely hear them now... something about her trying to stay awake?

But the genin had already slipped away.

* * *

Natski sat cross-legged beside the bed in the inn, arms crossed, staring down at her student's pale face, her skin still cold and her breathing shallow - though there were signs that she was beginning to recover as colour had started returning to her cheeks.

The jounin had been giving the girl a quick once over with green medical chakra when she found chakra damage in the genin's legs.

It was obvious how extremely reckless she had been. But all the same, Natski only blamed herself for letting the girl out of her sight...

She should have been there.

_She should have been there._

But she was on the other side of the inn, speaking with Takahama's father, Masurao.

.~.F

_With the mission officially over now that the family's protection detail had arrived, the two were wrapping things up and since the winds had stopped some time ago, they were sitting on the porch outside Masurao's room to enjoy the fresh air as they discussed their business in the early morning light._

_"Are you sure about this, Natski?" Masurao asked "the wolves have strict rules about new summoners. If she fails any of the tests..."_

_"I know" Natski replied._

_"Even if she passes all the tests, they will be able to tell she is different" he continued, frowning "they may not accept her. Fenrir may not even consider adminstering the tests because of it - you know he has trust issues"_

_"I'm sure, Masurao" she began, her tone final "just tell who-"_

**_BOOM!_**

_Natski and Masurao's heads jerked to the side to look through the open door to the inn, smoke and heat were billowing out into the hallway as well as up into the sky, fire crackling as it burned hungrily through the supports of the wooden structure._

_The sound of the explosion had cut through the still air, shattering the silence the Eye provided, and caused a loud commotion._

_While the inn owners, their daughters and the samurai darted around, helping to put out the fire, the jounin helping by using a jutsu to dump snow onto the fire, when Kaoru suddenly burst out from the room down the hall._

_His face was carefully blank, but Natski could see the alarm in his eyes, and the reason soon became apparent._

_The girls were missing._

'~'F

Natski sighed, closing her eyes as she remembered immediately taking charge of the situation, splitting her and the samurai up into two-man teams while leaving the two brothers to guard the inn.

She and Takahama's cousin had searched the woods east of the inn for some time before they encountered a group of retreating ninja carrying an unconscious Akiko.

The boy was seriously injured in the ensuing battle, forcing Natski to let them escape.

The only good news came later.

.~.F

_Kaoru crouched on the branch of the dead tree, his breath coming out in small puffs as he quietly surveyed the area._

_Snow drifted through the air on a light breeze - the wind was picking up, it wouldn't be long until his visibility would be reduced to zero again by the return of the blizzard... and it was already getting bad as it was._

_He had to find her fast._

_In the distance, he spotted a large disturbance in the snow and started leaping through the trees towards it._

_He landed softly, not even leaving a mark, as two grey wolves trotted up to stand beside him._

_The ninja narrowed his eyes at the scene._

_Snow was blown out in all directions from a point a few metres away, blanketing the area, trees and all, in white and leaving a medium sized patch of bare ground._

_He could feel the unfamiliar chakra residue that outnumbered the familiar of Emiko's._

_There had been at least three... and Akiko was here too._

_That explains why she didn't just run then. She was protecting Akiko._

_One wolf suddenly jerked it's head upwards, looking straight ahead._

_"This way!" he reported gruffly and took off, Kaoru following close behind._

_He hadn't been surprised when Natski had suddenly summoned two grey wolves to help with the search - after all, he knew she could summon - but he was definitely surprised when the two wolves had started talking._

_Yep. Two talking wolves. Not something you see everyday._

_Kaoru shook the thought from his mind. It tended do that lately, every time he became nervous around Emiko - though for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why - his mind deflected the feelings with humor and bad jokes._

_Funny. He used to do that to avoid answering questions about his job._

_As he moved, he came across kunai lodged in trees - more then not, having streaks of blood on them which the wolves said came from at least two different people._

_Eventually, he came to a clearing near the lake, only dropping down because the wolves slowed and began sniffing at something half-buried in the snow._

_Crouching down, he lifted it from a heavy patch of snow._

_A signal tag._

_Kaoru frowned, what was that doing here...?_

_Then, a few feet away, he found a pair of familiar glasses, one lens cracked._

_His eyes darted up, searching - but the wolves were already one step ahead._

_On the other side of the clearing was a small cluster of spikes of ice._

_Upon closer inspection, he realized it was unnatural in origin._

_Especially when he saw the small pair of legs sticking out of the side and the red staining the snow._

'~'F

"... sensei?"

Natski looked up "report"

"Hai" Kaoru responded "those wolves of your's, Tsume and Hige, are still out searching for the group's scent... but it seems the blizzard may have erased all signs of them"

Her eyes narrowed slightly, but she nodded in resignation as if expecting it "and the damage to the inn?"

"Nothing too bad, the explosion was more for show than actual damage"

"So it really was just a distraction then?"

"Looks like" Kaoru replied, moving inside the room to leaning against a wall, his arms crossed "the ignition tags were too damaged to make out any of the seals though, so I can't really be sure"

"What about the girl Takahama saw?"

Kaoru frowned "from his description, and the brief encounter I had before the explosion, I'd have to say she was our intruder - and from how she moved and responded to me, I'm pretty sure she was a ninja"

Natski's eyelids narrowed "_great_, that's all we need - did you see the village symbol?"

"No, she had it hidden - like she didn't want it to be seen - though from her clothing, I'd have to say Rain"

The jounin hummed to herself "alright, take a break, Kaoru" she sighed when he went to protest "we're not moving out again until Tsume or Hige find the scent anyway, so you might as well get some rest"

Reluctantly, the boy nodded, glancing at the girl laying wrapped in blankets and futons.

One of the inn owner's daughters, Saya, brusquely pushed her way into the room, carrying another futon and two flat hot water bottles. She quickly laid the futon on top and then placed the bottles inside the bedding.

"Her body temperature should be back to normal in a few hours" Saya told them as she laid the back of her hand on Emiko's forehead "lucky girl, you found her just in time. The injuries'll take a might longer to heal - after bein' partially frozen and all - but all she needs for now is some rest. And keep her in bed, we wouldn't want her to bust open those stitches"

After a little more fussing, the girl went to check on Takahama's injured cousin, leaving them in silence.

"... didn't I say you could take a break?" Natski asked.

Kaoru shrugged "well, yeah... but I don't feel like going any where just yet" he closed the sliding door behind him, then walked over and took a seat on the opposite side of Emiko's bed, leaning his back against the wall "think I'll jus' rest here a bit..."

Natski stared at him, but said nothing, then turned her attention to the sounds of the dying blizzard outside.

It was gonna be a long night.

* * *

-~D~-

_"Em? Heeeelllooooooo~?"_

_A hand was waving in front of my face._

_I blinked, slowly following the hand to the owner's body and then their face, framed with long dark wavy hair._

_Slowly, my eyes widened as my brain processed what I was seeing._

_... Katie?_

_Sitting next to me in the driver's seat of her little white car was one of my best friends, Katie._

_"Are you alright, Em?" asked a concerned voice from behind me._

_I turned my head to see my best friend Tony sitting in the back seat, her caramel skinned hand holding onto the back of my seat._

_This was a dream. It had to be. But then why did it all seem so... real?_

_"Are you going to answer me, Boss-Lady-sama?"_

_I turned back to Katie "uhh... what was the question?"_

_She sighed "why is it that every time I have a favourite character they're tortured, murdered, already dead, or die 'after I decide that I like them?"_

_A small smile curled the corner of my mouth. I remember this._

_"Because it's our curse, woman!" I replied. She pouted in reply as Tony's laugh bubbled up from the backseat._

_I miss this._

_I miss them._

_Then darkness claimed me again._

_A face flashed past, almost too quick to recognize, but the laugh was familiar enough for me to realize it was Akiko._

_Akiko dancing under a chestnut tree._

_Twirling, the sleeves and skirt of her kimono billowing out, a happy expression on her face as she slowly skipped around the base of the tree._

_I could hear the grass cushioning the steps of her sandal-covered feet._

_The wind blowing a few leaves from the tree and falling around her._

_Her laugh, echoing still, slowly dissolved into a song._

_It was the song she'd taught me._

-~D~-

* * *

"You are a disgrace!" snapped the man, glaring down at the red-haired girl kneeling before him.

Akiko winced, gazing down at her wrists that were tied together and laying into her lap.

"Did you think I wouldn't find out about this childish fit of your's?!" he raged, spit flying as he turned and began pacing back and forth across the room.

A tear slid down her cheek, followed by more as the man continued shouting at her, ignoring them.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered.

The man's expression darkened "you're sorry? You're _sorry?_ You made a laughing stock of my family and all you have to say is **_sorry?_**" he hissed.

Outside the door, stood Tatsuya and his female teammate, Michi.

Tatsuya kept glancing behind himself, a frown marring his face.

"I don't like it either" she said after his seventh glance in the last five minutes "but this our job. We _are_ ninja, ya know"

He scowled at her "that doesn't make it any better, Michi"

"No one's saying that, Tatsuya!" she snapped in a hused tone, glancing at him with a scowl of her own "just keep your opinions to yourself, alright? Kora-sensei'll flip his shit if he finds you questioning his judgement again!"

The teen fell silent, resorting to biting the inside of his mouth to stop a yell of indignation as the sound of a sharp **_slap_** came from the room.

The sound of stomping feet approached the door, before it slid open, their highly irate client stepping from the room before slamming the door closed behind him.

"Do not let her leave the room for _anything!_" he fumed at them both, before turning to Michi "and I want you in there guarding her! She is not to be left alone under _any_ circumstances! Understood?"

"_Hai_" the two genin chimed, standing at attention until the man stomped off.

".. what an asshat"

"_Tatsuya!_"

Slap.

"_Ow!_"

* * *

_End Chapter_

* * *

**A/N: One last thing, I think I should make it clear about the timeline for this. It is currently some time in November in the year BEFORE Naruto's class graduates from the Academy. I figure since the Chuunin Exams Written Part takes place on July 1st, I would have them graduate some time in late March or early April, that would give them around three or four months to train, rack up missions and go through the 20 or so episodes before the Exams.**

**Plus, it gives Emiko some more time to learn how to suck less at being a ninja. Also, I think I might be enjoying abusing Tatsuya a bit too much...**

**Anyway - please remember to rate, author/story alert, fav and/or review! It really DOES make me write faster and I absolutely LOVE getting them! See you next time~**

**~Milley02**


	7. TWB, Prt3 - Save the Girl

**A/N: I avoided writing this chapter for a lot of reasons. Reasons you'll figure out why once you've finished the chapter. This is also the last chapter in the the White Butterfly story arc.  
**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T own anything to do with the anime/manga Naruto! I only own Emiko, Kaoru, Natski-sensei, Tsume, Hige, Akiko and Takahama - everything else belongs to Masashi Kishimoto!**

**Extended Summary; A Ninja of Destiny? Not if she can help it. 'Emiko' is an anime fan from our world who's forced to survive in a foreign environment - the hidden village of Konoha in a world she thought was fiction. After an entire year, lots of ninja training, searching and theories, she's beginning to come to terms with the fact she may never get back home, when familiar events begin to occur... AU!ContainsGirlOC**

**.~. begins flashbacks.**

**'~' ends flashbacks.**

**Thanks to all the readers, reviewers, alerts and favs!**

**WARNING: This chapter contains dark themes. Saying any more would be a major spoiler, sorry. Let's just say this chapter is the reason I'm upgrading the rating to M.**

* * *

_Chapter - The White Butterfly, Part 4; Save the Girl_

* * *

_I looked out over the endless fields of pale green grass from underneath the branches of a cherry blossom tree and white cloudy blue sky, seeing spots of flowers in the distance and a small creek at the bottom of the hill the tree was on._

_"It's almost finished - what do ya think?"_

_Everything was completely still, as if it was frozen in time._

_"It's beautiful, Rin" I breathed, turning my head upwards to look at the small girl sitting in the branches._

_She grinned, her teeth like a shark's, swinging her short legs back and forth "well I had to find something to do - otherwise I would've gone crazy sitting in our head for what? Almost two-?"_

_"One year, nine months, and twenty-six days" I interrupted._

_"Right..." she replied, smile wavering._

_"So. When are you gonna let me see the other area you've been designing?"_

_"Soon, sis. Soon. This is the one that's closer to being finished, so I thought I'd show ya" her eyes lighting up again at the subject change "... plus, considering what's happening, I figured you'd appreciate the fresh air"_

_"Right. Because I can breathe inside my head" I replied, rolling my eyes at the motionless grass as all the recent events began crowding the forefront of my thoughts once again._

_"You will, soon enough"_

_I turned to her with wide eyes "you can do that?"_

_Her shark-like grin returned "this is our mental space, sis. I can do whatever I like. Hell, the weather system is gonna be epic. I've had more than enough time to figure out the needed 'coding' as you would call it - seriously, knowledge of computers does you jack shit in the world of the Elemental Countries, ya know"_

_I rolled my eyes "I'm aware... though I've found it is a helpful basis when working with what tech Konoha actually has - remember that security system I cannabilized out of Kana's doorbell and a handheld radio Natski-sensei let me pull apart?"_

_"Yeah, cause Kana so loved that" she mused, rolling her eyes._

_"I put it back together!" I retorted indignantly, sitting down "... mostly"_

_We sat in a comfortable silence for a while, me just taking in the scenery._

_I always felt more like myself in our 'mindscape' - because even though I could only be here when I was dreaming... I could be 18 again here. I could be 10cm taller here, and my hair could be as dark brown as it used to be. Instead of the light reddish brown it now was because of our mixed hair colour._

_"So what are you going to do? About Akiko?"_

_And so the question was asked. My gaze returned to the ground._

_"... I don't know"_

_I heard her jump down from the tree, her free flying waist length scarlet red hair settling quickly as she plopped down next to me on the grass._

_"Well, you'll have to figure it out quick smart, sis, cause the world ain't waitin' for you to get over your indecisiveness"_

_My eyes followed her hair up to her face. So starkly familiar. So full of my own features._

_How could someone who looked so much like me, be so different?_

_Her burnt orange eyes stared into my brown ones._

_"I mean, you can't turn away. You wouldn't. You're too stubborn for that" she said as if stating a fact "I've seen it in your conversations with her too - you've taken a liking to her. Even consider her a friend"_

_I opened my mouth to retort. To ask her how the hell she could possibly think she knew me._

_Unaware, she continued "you won't leave her-"_

_"And do **what**?" I snapped "what the hell am I supposed do against a whole team of foreign ninja? Against a jounin? The mission is over anyway. What logic would there be in-"_

_"**Fuck logic**" she growled, her expression skewed in anger._

_I blinked. Memories flashed across my mind as I sat there staring back at her._

_Heh... she'd got that from my memories... but, she had a point._

_My gaze dropped to ground, shoulders slumped as I breathed out a bitter laugh._

_Just who was the older one here again? Wasn't it supposed to be me?_

_Where the hell had all my confidence gone? Hell, I know I didn't have that much to begin with, but seriously? I have to get my pep talks from the twelve-year-old whose body I share?_

_"Never do anything you can't live with"_

_My gaze snapped up to her face with wide eyes._

_My dad said that._

_My dad._

_The same dad that I was practically best friends with when we weren't fighting._

_Don't cry. For fuck's sake, don't cry._

_But it's been so long since I heard that._

_I- no. If I think about this now, I'll fall apart damn it._

_I gotta focus._

_Right._

_Focus on saving Akiko._

_An anger started crawling up my throat - and it was at myself._

_Yeah, I screwed up._

_Yeah, I made a stupid mistake._

_But what good will sitting around crying about it do?_

_Would I be able to live with that...?_

_I found myself clenching my fists in a way that would have made them bleed had I been awake._

_Fuck logic._

_I'm saving her._

* * *

Emiko felt... warm, _hot_, even, as she began to regain consciousness. She forced her eyelids to open, pushing away the sleep trying to drag them back down.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but when they did she realized she was back inside the inn. Emiko was covered in layers of blankets and her limbs felt so numb that they wouldn't work the way she wanted them too.

She had to force the palms of her hands to move so she could push the heavy blankets away from her torso, and _then_ try and sit up, her fingers and wrists twisted uselessly.

Numb as she was, her gaze drifted blearily around the room, landing on an orange-haired figure that looked like a blurry Kaoru, slumped against the wall by the door, probably asleep.

Belatedly realizing she wasn't wearing her glasses, she began looking around for them, finding them folded on the floor on her left side, one lense cracked.

_'... that'll be expensive to fix'_

Emiko sighed, reaching for them and putting them on anyway. It hurt her eyes to see without them anyway.

When the feeling in her body began coming back, she immediately wished it hadn't.

A stabbing pain started in her legs first and it didn't let up - her nerves felt like they were on fucking _fire_.

With the feeling finally back in her other limbs, Emiko immediately grabbed the blankets and threw them off to survey the damage.

Her legs, from ankle to thigh, were a burning red, with dark red lines spread like cracks across the skin - otherwise it looked perfectly fine.

Her nerves screamed otherwise.

Apparently so did her vocal chords, because she didn't even realize she was screaming and crying until she found herself being held, the sounds muffled with her face pressed into Natski's flak jacket, and her throat started hurting.

_'What the **hell** did I do to my fucking legs?'_

* * *

Chakra burns. Emiko had burned her goddamn nerves with chakra.

_'Great. So much for speed... Rin is going to kill me'_

Despite her mental sarcasm, the situation was pretty bad. Natski-sensei, while not a certified medic nin, did know some basics she'd learned from an old teammate of her's.

According to her diagnostic jutsu, by shoving so much unmoulded chakra into her legs and forcing them to work faster, Emiko had also damaged the nerves.

Now, Emiko's not exactly an expert or anything - especially not on chakra-related injuries - but burns are usually bad. _Especially_ when they go below the goddamn skin.

_'And I managed to burn the fucking **nerves.** My god, she's so going to fucking kill me'_

With her limited expertise, there wasn't much Natski could do until they got back to Konoha Hospital, and even then Emiko would probably have to spend a few weeks - if not longer - in the hospital receiving treatment as well as some physical therapy.

The only good thing that came of it - according to Natski - is that she made the discovery of the bad habit early enough that she thought she could easily break the genin out of it. Wonderful.

On a more positive note, despite how long she'd spent exposed to the rapidly worsening weather, Natski assured Emiko that she hadn't suffered any lasting ill effects. Not even a little frost bite. In fact, the cold weather had actually saved her from bleeding out. Ahhhh, another reason for her to love the cold. Though she would have to eat a lot iron-rich foods for the next few days.

Speaking of the gash on her side, Natski had used medical chakra to knit the skin back to together as a temporary measure. So that was a plus. Though she'd also need to have that looked at when they got back to Konoha. Ugh, Kana was _so_ going to kill her...

Kaoru had left by that point, apparently he was out with Tsume and Hige - Natsuki's wolf summons - trying to help the samurai pick up the trail of the team who'd kidnapped Akiko. She had noticed a strange look on his face whenever he looked at her... it couldn't possibly be guilt or concern though, they barely knew each other.

Later, after nothing short of ordering Emiko to get some more rest, Natski decided she was also going out to assist them, and left the inn.

Emiko, meanwhile, was fed some pretty good tasting food before she removed her glasses and then carefully worked her way back into her bundle of blankets to try and sleep as ordered.

It took her about twenty minutes of denial before she realized she _really_ had to go the bathroom.

"... hello?" she called out tentatively. When after several more attempts, she received no response, Emiko realized she would have to do this herself.

She spent another ten minutes mentally debating the pros and cons.

Finally deciding she couldn't ignore it anymore, she threw back her blankets once again and prepared herself for some serious pain.

The first attempt caused her to fall backwards out of shock, almost tearing open her side wound, and leaving an even more intense throbbing and burning sensation in her legs - in addition to the still present stabbing pain.

The second attempt was slightly more successful - she managed to make it into a crouch - though it strained her leg muscles.

By her fifth attempt she was able to stand, albeit painfully, and take a few steps forward, before her legs almost gave away beneath her.

Her stubborn streak showing, Emiko was determined to keep going and ended up using the wall as support as she carefully made her way to the bathroom door.

When she finally collapsed back into her bed, despite the pain, she felt highly accomplished.

... that didn't stop new nightmares from forming after she fell asleep.

* * *

Jolted awake by the sound of the door sliding against the tatami mats of the floor, Emiko woke in a cold sweat, the echo of Akiko's voice screaming her name still in her ears.

She stared at ceiling as Kaoru closed the door and then took up a seat beside it. When he didn't speak, Emiko decided to break the silence herself and ask for the answers she needed to hear.

"... so how bad was the damage? Was anyone injured? Did you find their trail?"

Kaoru didn't answer for a moment, wondering what exactly he should tell the genin.

He open his mouth to answer, but Emiko stopped him "Kaoru, don't lie to me, okay? I need to know"

"No. You don't _'need'_ to know. You _want_ to know - there's a difference!"

So shocked at Kaoru's _emotional_ response - usually he calmly talked his way around everything - words failed her for a second before anger took its place.

"I mean for Kami's sake, it wasn't your-"

"-what? It wasn't my _what_?" Emiko demanded, glaring him into silence "it wasn't my_** fault**_? Yeah. Yeah, it was. _I_ was the only one there, and **_I_** couldn't protect her - so _don't_ try and bullshit me on this, Kaoru! I've had enough of that shit from everyone else whose come in here since I woke up! I fucked up, okay?! I know that!_ I don't need, nor want, anymore fucking coddeling!_"

She took a second to breathe, to calm herself down before she continued "so just... tell me the truth, okay? _Please_"

Kaoru stared at her, annoyance showing clearly on his face as he studied the anger still in her eyes and expression, before sighing to himself and reluctantly answering "... the damage to the inn wasn't that bad. We managed to get the fire out quickly enough, so there was no structural damage - and other than you, Takahama's stubborn cousin was the only other one to be injured and he's recovering in another room"

Emiko's glare softened slightly, but still remained "Kaoru..."

He'd been hoping she hadn't noticed him gloss over the pursuit findings. But, nooooo.

She could be really stubborn when she wanted to be. At least if he's the one to tell her, he can be there to stop her from doing anything stupid.

"... we think we might be able to extrapolate their destination from the traces the wolves have found, but there's no way to be sure. Takahama and his kin are planning on heading out in the morning to pursue-"

"-and we're not going, are we" it wasn't a question.

Kaoru hesitated, then sighed "the plan _was_ to get back to Konoha as soon as possible so we could get you treatment"

She blinked "... _was_?"

"Well you're not going to leave this alone are you? Honestly, I'd rather be with you to stop you from doing anything that'll make your injuries worse, then let you sneak off during the night by yourself"

_'Translation; stop me from doing anything stupid... he knows me so well'_

"Thanks. I'm gonna owe you for this" Emiko thanked him, a small smile on her face.

"Oh, I know. I've already got an idea on how you can pay me back - now, how are you with walking?"

* * *

"This is _not_ going to work"

"What? It'll work fine. Just stop fidgeting and we'll be on our way before sensei even realize-"

"-before I realize what?"

Emiko and Kaoru looked up, the latter sheepish, and the former like a deer in headlights from her piggy back position on Kaoru's back.

"You were saying, Kaoru?"

"... shut up"

* * *

"Just what exactly were you two planning on doing?" Natski-sensei demanded, hands on her hips as she stood before her two students.

By attending planning meetings that day, Kaoru had been able to glean the most probable location Akiko had been taken to - which was currently a small town to the east, just inside the Land of Rice, about halfway back to the girl's father's estate in the Land of Hot Springs - and late in the night, the two had set out in full gear in an attempt to rescue the girl.

What they hadn't planned on - though in retrospect, probably should have expected - was their sensei keeping a closer eye on the genin of their team because of what had happened in the last couple of days.

Emiko knew without even asking that Natski wouldn't let her go after Akiko. Not after what happened.

She glared determinedly at the tatami mat floor, while Kaoru sat stiff-backed beside her - actually insisting they all go with the rescue effort.

He was being surprisingly helpful.

Thanks to Kaoru's help, her legs' mobility had improved vastly in a few short hours - who knew the douche knew anything about medical chakra? - and now she could not only walk, but slowly jog. She wasn't anywhere near running just yet - let alone ninja running/jumping - but at least it was something.

Mind you, the pain was still highly present. All Kaoru did with the medical chakra was coax the muscles into moving again and teach her a few mind tricks in ignoring pain.

Not exactly healthy, yeah. But he understood her need to rescue Akiko - if not for the same reasons, then probably because as far as he was concerned the mission wasn't over yet, and he doesn't like failing missions.

Natski sighed, her expression falling into one of sympathy "our mission ended the moment Takahama's father arrived at the inn - and that's not even mentioning the fact that _you_ are _injured_" she continued, turning a stern eye on the genin "the only reason we're even helping out with the search is because Takahama was barely able to extend our contract to include tracking assistance - and before you ask, not only can't he afford to hire us for a rescue, but you are _not_ qualified for an A-rank mission involving enemy ninja. _Especially_ not since you are **_injured_**" she stressed.

The sound of two sets of heavy footsteps coming down the hall brought their conversation to a quick halt, then came a knock.

Kaoru and Emiko exchanged glances as Natsuki went to open the sliding door.

There stood Takahama and his father. The man was tall, and while beginning to show signs of gray in his dark hair, his build matched that of a man half his age. They both looked determined.

"I, Nagao Tamekage, head of the Nagao Clan, officially request Konoha's assistance in rescuing the young girl known as Akiko"

_'Well. That makes things a lot easier'_

An official request _and_ support from his clan meant Takahama would now easily be able to afford an A-rank mission.

All the same, Natski hesitated in responding.

Relations between the hidden villages and the Land of Iron were always be touchy at best - and if anything went wrong, it could result in an international incident.

... mind you, a samurai clan _asking_ for assistance from a ninja was touchy anyway.

Still she considered. Even with the clan's support, she would need Kaoru with her for this. She wasn't about to lead a bunch of samurai on rescue mission by herself - not after the last time.

And leaving Emiko here alone, or even with one of the Nagao clan's samurai, meant the girl would inevitably be following them from a distance, _alone_ - no matter what she said.

Natski sighed. To say this was going to be interesting was an understatement.

"On behalf of Konoha, and my team, I accept. Prepare your people, we leave at first light"

Tamekage nodded in return, thanking Natski for their assistance, before leaving with his son for preparations.

Natski immediately turned to students "now listen closely, you two. Because I'm not going to repeat this"

Emiko and Kaoru nodded, the former still stunned from what how fast the situation had just changed. Natski-sensei performed a quick summoning, and two mature grey wolves appeared from the smoke, then she laid out her plan.

"Kaoru, you'll be scouting up front with Hige. Emiko, you're to stay with the samurai - _don't_ leave the center of the group - and you'll be navigating our course" she ordered, tossing a copy of the map with their predictions on it to the shocked genin "and lastly, I'll be covering the group from behind with Tsume, providing support as necessary - understood?"

"Yes, sensei!" Kaoru and Emiko both replied immediately, the wolves giving their own gruff affirmatives. Natski then left with Tsume to coordinate with the samurai while they prepared.

After retrieving her equipment, Emiko set about taking stock of her inventory.

She'd used quite a few of her explosive tags in the chase, lost some of her kunai, and the signal tag while unused, had it's seal slightly damaged.

Emiko knew immediately from Rin's basic sealing lessons that using it would be dangerous. Explosives tags - especially modified ones like her's - were a delicate combination of thoroughly thought out seal lines and chakra embedded ink; you don't mess with that _generally_, let alone after it's been modified and then _damaged_.

Thankfully, Kaoru had retrieved her chakra blade, so at least she had that. Now to the map.

Emiko unrolled the paper map on to the tatami before her. There was several lead markings leading from a spot near the inn right beside the frozen lake, but only one was marked as their course. It lead east, taking the quickest route to the border. She hummed to herself, moving from her kneeled position to crossing her legs as she thought.

The sound of soft padding against mats alerted her to Hige's approach, and a quick glance told her Kaoru busy taking inventory, leaving the wolf to his own devices.

"What're you thinkin' about, pup?" came Hige's gruff voice as he settled down beside her.

Emiko hesitated. She'd only seen her sensei's wolf summons in passing a few times before this mission, and her instincts left from 'before' told her she should either freeze or run like hell... but Rin's instincts, her ninja instincts, told her the wolf meant her no harm.

She eyed the wolf's sharp canines for moment, before her eyes drifted back to the map and she explained "I'm trying to work out how far they might've gotten. Ordinarily, if it were just ninjas, I would guess they were almost out of the Land of Rice by now and well on their way to their destination - but, considering they have two civilians with them, they would need to make more stops, not to mention their pace would be considerably slowed. All that meaning that they are probably only about halfway through the Land of Rice... about here" she pointed to what appeared to be a small settlement about near the center of the country.

Hige hummed "sounds like good reasoning to me - so what's the problem?"

Emiko didn't respond, biting her lip nervously instead.

"_Ohhh_, you're not sure, and you don't wanna be wrong"

The girl's eyes narrowed in surprise, frowning as she turned to stare at the wolf "how-?"

He gave a laugh "I know a pup just like you" he replied, smirking "but it's not just being wrong that he's afraid of - it's the consequences that come with it" the wolf's expression sobered, eyes falling to the map "then again, considering what he's been through..." he trailed off, his serious gaze returning to her "but what reason would you have to be so afraid?"

She wasn't sure if he was actually asking her, or just musing out loud. Either way, Emiko turned her attention back to the map, trying to avoid the wolf's inquiring gaze.

_'No one can know what I know. **No one.**'_

* * *

Kaoru and Hige landed on a tree branch, stopping momentarily as the boy glanced back to check on the group, before continuing on.

They were making good time. The samurai had turned out to be capable of much faster speeds then he had anticipated and according to his wolfy companion, they were gaining ground quickly.

Also, for what little leadership training she had, Emiko was actually doing a fairly good job of navigating and directing their fourteen strong rescue team.

He would definitely be adding this to her file.

* * *

Her legs felt like they'd been burned, and while the techniques Kaoru had taught her allowed Emiko to reduce the pain to a constant dull throbbing ache, the strain of the travel was beginning to take it's toll.

... if this was permanent, Rin was definitely going to kill her.

She glanced down at her legs, covered in her light blue leg warmers. At least she'd managed to tie the weights back on - the extra tightness when she strapped them on was actually helping a little.

The constant shifting of the bandage around her torso also never failed to remind her of the barely stitched gash in her side.

_'Well, this mission is turning out to be really shitty_' she groaned mentally. But she was determined to see it through.

She was going to save Akiko, damn it.

The group had stopped for a short break in order to switch out their snow gear, and Emiko shifted her attention away from injuries and back to making sure they were still on track.

If her estimates were correct, and they kept up their pace, the group would encounter the enemy in a little over three hours.

Emiko hoped she was right.

* * *

Sensing something ahead, Kaoru and Hige lept forward to check it out.

Crouching low in the higher branches, they used the leaf coverage to hide their visual presence.

"Fifty metres ahead" Hige relayed "at ten o'clock"

Following the wolf's directions, Kaoru managed to spot what looked to be ninja hiding in the branches over to the left.

He didn't recognize the uniform style - could it be from that new hidden village? It seemed to be comprised of a gray robe with a black long sleeved shirt underneath, a molted neck scarf, and a black facial mask that covered almost their entire head except the eyes, the only adornment being what seemed to be a ninja forehead protector.

"Hige, can you make out the symbol?" he whispered to the wolf. Knowing what the boy meant, Hige shook his head doubtfully in return. They would have to be closer for that - and they didn't have much time, the group would be here soon.

Making a snap decision, Kaoru sent Hige back to inform Natski-sensei of what was going on, then as soon as the wolf had left, the boy fell back into old habits.

He pulled his mask up from around his neck to cover the lower half of his face, before disappearing in a flicker.

* * *

Where the hell had Kaoru gone?

One second, he and Hige are scouting ahead of the group, and the next they were gone - wait, was that Hige? Why's he going back to Natski-sensei?

_'God, damn it'_ Emiko mentally growled_ 'I **hate** being left out of the loop'_

* * *

Natski was chatting with Tsume - well, arguing, actually - when Hige showed up.

"-it's not your decision, Tsume. It's your uncle's. And you _know_ that- Hige?"

The two females listened as the wolf explained the situation.

"I'll stay here and hold up this end" Tsume decided, then turned to her brother "you and Natski go check on the boy"

Hige nodded in agreement with his sister, giving a gruff "come on" to their summoner, before dashing back towards the front of the group.

When they arrived, the boy was dropping a scroll into his weapons pouch "nothing to worry about" he informed them, expression blank "just a local ninja clan member that strayed too far from it's nest. I sent him on his way"

Natski would be lying if she said she trusted the boy - what with his past - but right now she didn't have the time to force an answer out of him. It would have to wait.

They didn't have time for any discussion. Kaoru knew he would have to explain himself later, but by then the scroll he'd sealed the body into would be in the hands of his superior's - far from Natski's reach.

After all, they needed to know all they could about this new hidden village.

One that used a musical note as it's symbol.

* * *

Emiko was nervous.

About half an hour behind the enemy, Natski had taken charge of the group again, coordinating with Tamekage in planning the assault.

Kaoru, who was scouting ahead, reported the group they were tailing had stopped in a clearing not far ahead to rest for the night.

The plan was simple. Splitting their group into four three-man teams, they would approach from all sides, surrounding them.

Emiko was teamed up with Takahama and an older brother of his named Takemara. Natski knew Emiko would initially find it difficult to match up with their fighting styles, but she couldn't risk leaving Kaoru on his own - hence the boy's pairing with Hige and the samurai twins.

Tamekage's group was the only full samurai team, but she trusted the man enough to go along with the plan - after all, he's the one who asked for their help in the first place.

Natski, meanwhile, had Tsume and the injured cousin that had absolutely _insisted_ he come along.

As they moved into position, Emiko surveyed what she could see.

Tatsuya, the boy who wielded the kusarigami she'd destroyed, was laughing. The boy with ice jutsu, Hatsu, was sitting beside him, looking mildly irritated as he read from a small book. The girl was with them too, she looked annoyed with them, enough that she moved away to sit by a crouched feminine figure Emiko assumed was Akiko.

Suddenly, a kunai was launched into the clearing, the tag fluttering behind it exploding into a large cloud of smoke.

The signal.

Emiko dropped down, her legs protested as she landed in a crouch, the two armed wielding samurai following her as she darted into the smoke cloud, chakra blade drawn.

Within the cloud, her vision was obscured so badly she could barely see. An ice pillar shot up in front of her and she barely had time to dodge it before the jutsu user launched himself at her with a kunai.

They clashed, sparks flying, another Hatsu came from her other side, kunai drawn - clones? - forcing Emiko to draw a kunai of her own to defend herself.

Around her she could hear multiple clashes of metal against metal, the second Hatsu exploding into a cloud of white smoke as she managed to land a blow.

The genin forced her way forwards, the samurai brothers keeping up with her surprisingly well with the low visibility within the thick smoke cloud.

They found Akiko with her legs and hands bound, unconscious by a tree near the edge of the smoke cloud. Takahama quickly dropped to his knees beside her, hand reaching for her shoulder to shake her awake.

The instant his hand touched her, Akiko exploded in a cloud of white smoke and Emiko belatedly realized it had only been a henged clone.

Fear sparked up inside her again.

No. This _can't_ be happening. Not again!

A scream came from up ahead and without even thinking about it, Emiko was off, weights torn from her legs and leg warmers in left in tatters.

The man from before, Akiko's _father_, was standing above her, blade drawn, not far to their right Natski-sensei fought with the other team's sensei.

"_NO!_" Emiko screamed as she landed, but the blade was already coming down.

She wasn't fast enough.

_Why_ was she never _fast_ enough?!

Blood splattered the ground, across the man's front and Emiko's vest.

She could feel it. _Smell_ the copper.

She blanked. Next thing Emiko remembered, she was standing over not just Akiko's corpse, but the man's as well, her legs screaming in protest.

Her chakra blade was dripping dark red blood, skin and muscle sinew still clinging to the serrated edge.

Tears leaked from her eyes, mixing with the blood on her face, then she dropped to her knees and screamed.

* * *

_End Chapter_

* * *

**A/N: Right. Well wasn't that lovely. Now you know why I took so long writing this.**

**Also a new chapter should be up in a few days.**

**Please remember to rate, author/story alert, fav and/or review.**

**~Milley02**


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